Harland & Wolff have cut first steel on a new cable barge it is building for Portsmouth-based KBS Maritime Ltd.
The ceremony took place at Harland & Wolff’s Appledore ship factory in North Devon and was attended by technical representatives from KBS Maritime and Harland & Wolff’s engineering team.
In a contract valued at approximately £800,000, Harland & Wolff has designed and will deliver in Spring 2024, a specialist cable barge that will enter service in His Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Portsmouth.
All construction work will be carried out at Appledore in parallel with existing defence and commercial projects currently underway at the site.
“KBS Maritime Ltd is a joint venture between KBR and BAE Systems and delivers hard facilities management alongside services to support the Portsmouth flotilla. The base is home to almost two-thirds of the Royal Navy’s surface ships, including the flagship aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince Of Wales, Type 45 destroyers, Type 23 frigates and mine countermeasures and fishery protection squadrons. On average, 700 ship movements a year take place, from a single ship movement to the deployment of the Carrier Strike Group.
The new cable barge, now under construction, will be used by KBS Maritime as a floating platform to lower anchors and associated cable chains from ships so that they can be tested and refurbished as required. The barge will be used to support alongside operations for Mine Hunters, Type 23s, Type 45s, and when commissioned, the new Type 26s and Type 31s.”
James Davis, Managing Director at KBS Maritime said, “The acquisition of the new cable barge is a key investment supporting our Asset Management strategy across Portsmouth Naval Base. By working with Harland & Wolff to design a forward-thinking and purpose-built barge, specific to the needs of this busy Naval Base, it will enable our Alongside Services teams to continue to deliver vital services to the Royal Navy in an efficient and safe way.”
Tom Hart, General Manager of Harland & Wolff in Appledore added, “We’re delighted to welcome the KBS project team to witness cutting steel. The existing cable barge has served well for over 25 years, and we are looking forward to building a modern, more capable alternative in her image that will help to serve the Royal Navy. Additionally, our work on this contract will enable us to continue growing both our workforce and our skills as the yard looks to ramp up for the delivery of the FSS contract.”
With most cities and big towns looking to reduce the amount of big lorries from there roads especially in the centres I can see rivers and barges playing a more important role in the future.
Not in Sunderland though, with their council.
It’s wonderful to see Appledore back in business, it may only be a barge but it’s a start. It will be interesting to see what H&W do with the yard in the future but there are possible future ships that would be a good fit.
At some point we will need to replace the Hydrographic and the Minesweepers with new builds and Appledore is well placed to build them.
Nice to see that Techserv CNC Plasma cutter in use.
Appledore are also refitting the former HMS Quorn for sale to Lithuania and will no doubt build sections for FSS.
As for survey and mine-warfare the future is autonomous / remote systems deployed from mother-ships, with the intention of purchasing upto 4 commercial vessels in addition to RFA Stirling Castle.
The only new build may be the replacement for HMS Scott, but it’ll be a complex/large vessel and i’d have thought if the order is ever made Cammell Laird would be a better choice after their experience with RRS Sir David Attenborough.
I have a feeling that the path the RN are taking may bite them in the ar*e. Primarily because the motherships will be ships originally designed for civilian use. Yes, they might be given some fire protection upgrades etc. But it doesn’t remove the fact that they weren’t deigned as warships. If things get worse off the coast of Yemen, where the Houthis start deploying mines. You will need a number of dedicated minesweepers, which at the moment will have the benefit from a maritime task force to give it some protection. But what if a ship like the Stirling… Read more »
Frankly any support vessel operating in a UK port should be UK built to support the industry.
Appledore was the last English yard to build a complete Warship…. Just thought I’d mention it !
Er, Submarines??????
Attract and build a workforce, well done.
USNI Proceedings have emphasised the need for distributed shipbuilding as yards will be a priority target for China.
As to drones being the future, well several US talking heads have not had much faith in them AND suggest mining is the way forward to contain the PLAN.
And the US have relied on other NATO countries for their mine ability… Hmm.
Great to see the progress at Pallion’s older smaller sister and shows what can happen. The irony is the obvious. Portsmouth had a new ship factory built by Voster Thornycroft in the mid 2000s, with a huge hall fed by the unit production facility and a well layed out steel production facility with steel cutting, shaping and panel lines. All stripped out by and for BAE.
Oh, that’s disappointing! I thought it was going to be the first steel cut for the massively overdue solid support ships HW & Navantia are building.
Huge question wether we can keep Fort Victoria going until the first is built. When you run out of force multipliers, especially due to total incompetance, you hobble the whole fleet.