Manufacturing is now underway at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow, on the first of three units to be built for HMS Belfast, the third City Class Type 26 frigate currently being constructed by BAE Systems, in what the firm calls “a new dawn” for the Port Glasgow shipyard.
This phase of work involves fabricating three steel units.
When ready later this year, the modules will be transported to BAE Systems’ Govan shipyard ready for assembly as part of HMS Belfast, the third frigate in a series of eight warships that BAE Systems is building for the Ministry of Defence.
David Shepherd, Programme Director of BAE Systems, added:
“The Type 26 programme is a truly UK wide endeavour with more than 120 UK suppliers already contracted and providing a range of skills, technologies and equipment that combined will make the Type 26 a truly world-class maritime capability. We look forward to working alongside the team at Ferguson Marine as we progress the steel work for HMS Belfast.”
David Tydeman, Chief Executive of Ferguson Marine said:
“Today heralds a new era for commercial shipbuilding at Port Glasgow, one we have painstakingly planned and prepared for. It demonstrates the ability of our skilled workforce to secure complex new contracts in a commercial environment. And this is just the beginning. We plan to grow our expertise and capabilities to win additional commercial contracts and adjacent markets.
From a skills perspective, the yard is continuing to invest in apprenticeships so it’s encouraging to be able to demonstrate to our current intake that we can win this type of work. As a member of the Executive Committee for the National Shipbuilding Strategy, encouraging young people to consider shipbuilding as a career is an ambition very close to my heart.”
Tydeman previously said that Ministry of Defence work would provide a “solid base” for the future of the troubled Port Glasgow ferry builders.
Ferry yard sending workers to build skills at Frigate yard
We reported previously that Ferguson Marine, a Scottish Government-owned shipyard, is working with BAE Systems on the Type 26 frigate programme. This collaboration aims to enhance the competitiveness of the shipyard and secure a sustainable future for commercial shipbuilding on the Clyde.
The Auditor General in Scotland previously raised concerns about the future of commercial shipbuilding in Scotland. In response, Ferguson Marine has been actively pursuing diversification opportunities, one of which is the contract with BAE Systems.
The company is seeking to offset potential increases in total delivery costs due to delays by generating income from commercial work, a strategy that aligns with their long-term goals. As part of this partnership, several Ferguson Marine workers have been seconded to BAE Govan since January 2023. The company has reassured stakeholders that the secondment does not divert resources away from the completion of the 801 and 802 ferry projects.
Instead, this arrangement allows for knowledge transfer and upskilling of the workforce across the industry, a critical factor in ensuring the shipyard remains competitive in securing future contracts.
Over time guy’s 😉
Remember measure twice, cut once.
Hopefully they do a good job and get more Work
Hopefully BAE are x-raying the welds on the units they receive 😔
I mean OMG – look at the way they are approaching the build on whatever it is in the slip.
It doesn’t inspire confidence TBH.
Possibly Gosport Ferry replacement by the look of it SB
Is it good enough for the Gosport Ferry (?) – now that the Gosport ferry is a key part of the Grey Funnel Line fleet 🙂
You sure we can trust the “Scottish terrorists” not to sabotage these critical assets…
I think they’re all on strike at the moment as Putin won’t pay them an inflation bonus.
Wouldn’t be surprised if HMS Belfast is built and launched before they finally finish ferry projects 801 and 802 for CalMac 😂
Those 2 ferries are taking so long to build to an acceptable civilian standard that their hulls will be rusted by the time they enter service. Doesn’t fill you with confidence does it?
Well hopefully the Belfast build will be free of the SNP’s incompetence, interference and corruption that plagued the ferries…
They had to shot blast then and repaint them already.
Nothing unusual about steel in shipbuilding rusting. That’s dealt with before hull painting is done later in the build, but until then it will rust in places even though usually red lead coated. Most of the plates are stored outside before fabricated & rust happens.
Steel before it is painted, will be processed with
metal pre-treatment chemicals, which gets rid of surface rust and also prevents/ minimises corrosion and promotes paint adhesion. Part of my previous employment was testing lots of painted panels after they had been subjected to salt spray exposure in testing chambers.
OT: Australian T-26 Hunter at risk with ADF intention of moving to smaller ships of corvette size.
Check Naval News for details.
Interesting read.
I’d suggest that there is an outside chance the T26 Hunter Class buy might go ahead all be it for fewer hulls. My reasoning for this is that the SSN IOC is at least 20 years away if we are being realistic so they will need a high end ASW capability in the meantime.
If by any chance the SSN gets into service sooner they’ll have an overlap, but I wouldn’t expect the full SSN force to up and running in less than 30 years, as they have to develop the local expertise to build the damn things. Just look at the pains the UK has gone through rebuilding its nuclear submarine building capability. Just making changes to HMS Audacious caused significant delays to her build and that’s after building 3 previous subs of the same class.
Australia needs to understand that the UK and the US are at capacity at the moment and will not be that keen on denuding their own programmes of experienced engineers. So yeh, help and assistance will be available, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t rationed relative to need.
So long story short, these planned SSN’s will not arrive inside 10 years, first one might make it in 15 years more likely 20 years, especially is they are going to tweak the design to meet local needs, which they are saying they will, e.g. Brit boat and reactor with US combat systems – that is not a simple plug and play scenario.
The chances of the politically driven review being realistic are slim so there is obviously a chance that they’ll cut the whole programme and regret it later. We’ll see, but I think the Australian government is getting a more detailed view of SSN costs and are getting twitchy – understandably so.
Welcome, to the SSN club RAN.
Cheers CR
How is that going to work with the AUS penchant for putting every available system on board.
T26 wasn’t big enough and now they wanted smaller ships……does not compute.
I speculate they saw the Ukranian war and the importance of numbers vs a Chinese Navy at hundreds of ships.
For this only make sense if this means the corvettes will have Tomhawks or other very long range missiles and of course the number of corvettes would be in 20’s at least.
David Tydeman, Chief Executive of Ferguson Marine has an impressive c.v.
Good luck to all concerned.
Sometimes I think RN orders single handedly keep the Scottish ship building alive. I would like to see more investment in England too.
Ferguson Marine… Are you joking