Babcock Marine is planning an extension to an existing manufacturing building at Rosyth, providing additional industrial space as the company continues to develop its naval shipbuilding facilities in Fife, according to planning documents submitted to Fife Council.

The proposal concerns Building 164 on Watt Road, part of Babcock Marine’s manufacturing operations at Rosyth Business Park. The plans involve extending an existing production bay and making internal alterations to provide additional manufacturing space.

Submitted in July, the application remains under consideration. It follows several years of investment at Rosyth, where the company has expanded its industrial facilities, introduced automated production equipment and recruited additional workers to support naval construction.

The proposed extension is particularly relevant to Babcock Marine’s existing panel-line operations. The company has previously explored increasing manufacturing capacity in these facilities, although the latest planning documents do not explicitly identify the equipment that would occupy the additional space.

Panel lines are used to manufacture large sections of a ship’s steel structure before they are incorporated into larger assemblies. Steel plates are positioned and welded together to form panels, which are reinforced with structural components before being combined into larger sections of a vessel. These sections eventually form parts of a ship’s hull, decks and internal compartments. Modern production lines employ automated welding and material-handling equipment, allowing repetitive fabrication work to be carried out more efficiently.

Increasing panel-line capacity can allow a shipyard to manufacture more structural components simultaneously, particularly when several vessels are under construction. Overall production rates also depend on subsequent assembly stages, the availability of skilled workers and the volume of work passing through the yard.

At Rosyth, Babcock Marine has already invested in automated manufacturing equipment to support construction of five Inspiration-class Type 31 frigates for the Royal Navy.

Major assembly work takes place inside the purpose-built Venturer Building, where large sections of the vessels are brought together under cover. The facility forms the centrepiece of the company’s modern shipbuilding operation. The programme has required substantial recruitment, too. In October 2025, the UK Defence Journal reported that Babcock had recruited around 300 welders from the Philippines to address shortages of qualified labour.

The recruitment forms part of a wider effort to develop the skilled workforce required for naval construction at Rosyth. Welding and fabrication skills are needed throughout production, from manufacturing individual steel components to assembling completed ship sections. The company has also been expanding its apprenticeship and training activities to support future workforce requirements. The availability of further shipbuilding contracts will influence how much of that workforce can be sustained beyond the current Type 31 programme.

Giving evidence to the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee in April 2026, Babcock’s chief corporate affairs officer John Howie discussed the importance of securing long-term work to support recruitment and apprenticeships.

Howie told MPs: “It is really simple: the need for long-term contracts.” He added: “As a matter of policy, it is never a good thing to take someone on, put them through an apprenticeship but then not offer them a job at the end of it.” Referring specifically to Rosyth, Howie said: “If you look at the Rosyth example, theoretically by the time the fifth Type 31 is finished, the demand tails off.”

His comments, recorded in the committee’s published evidence, reflected the importance of maintaining a continuing programme of shipbuilding work. In a September 2025 report on Rosyth’s expansion prospects, I described the company’s plans to increase production capacity, including the possibility of growing its workforce from approximately 2,500 to 4,000 if additional contracts were secured.

Babcock has been pursuing further international orders for its Arrowhead family of frigate designs, with opportunities in several overseas markets. One such opportunity was Sweden’s Luleå-class frigate programme, for which Babcock partnered with Saab to offer its Arrowhead 120 design. Sweden subsequently selected France’s Naval Group for the requirement.

Denmark remains another prospective customer, Babcock has promoted its Arrowhead 140 design for Danish naval requirements, although any resulting manufacturing activity would depend on procurement decisions and the industrial arrangements agreed with the customer.

Rosyth is also developing manufacturing work associated with the United States Navy’s Virginia-class submarine programme through Babcock’s relationship with American shipbuilder HII. The company has been authorised to manufacture complex assemblies for Block VI submarines. In its May 2026 trading update, Babcock said a small initial engineering contract was underway.

Alongside the proposed extension to Building 164, Babcock Marine has secured planning permission for a second major shipbuilding assembly hall at Rosyth.

Approved by Fife Council in February 2026, the proposed facility would stand behind the existing Venturer Building and provide additional covered space for naval construction. The building would measure approximately 149 metres long, 65 metres wide and 48.5 metres high, incorporating overhead cranes and large access doors to accommodate substantial shipbuilding sections. The additional hall would increase the space available for major ship construction and potentially allow more vessels to be assembled simultaneously. Whether the company proceeds with construction will depend on its investment decisions and future requirements.

The manufacturing expansion is taking place alongside continuing work on the Royal Navy’s Type 31 programme, which has experienced delays and additional costs. In a report published by The Scotsman on 1 November, Babcock Marine chief executive Sir Nick Hine discussed efforts to contain delays to the five frigates under construction at Rosyth. Hine indicated that HMS Venturer, the first vessel, was expected to be delivered in 2028 and that delays across the wider programme could amount to as much as two years, although the company was seeking to limit their impact on subsequent ships.

Earlier this year, Babcock disclosed a further £140 million charge associated with higher-than-expected rework on the first two frigates, including difficulties arising from design changes and construction activities undertaken out of sequence.

Babcock has previously outlined ambitions to increase production towards one frigate annually, which would require a consistent flow of work through fabrication, assembly, outfitting and delivery. The longer-term scale of Rosyth’s expansion will depend on the volume of additional work secured after the current Type 31 programme. Babcock’s evidence to Parliament indicates that shipbuilding demand could decline without follow-on contracts, while export opportunities and submarine manufacturing provide potential sources of further activity.