The updated National Shipbuilding Strategy previously highlighted the urgent need for replacement vessels to maintain the UK’s maritime border security. Work has yet to start, however.
The Border Force’s Maritime Command currently operates a fleet of five cutters and six coastal patrol vessels, all nearing the end of their service life.
Kevan Jones, the Labour Member of Parliament for North Durham, said:
“The National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh, particularly the 30-year pipeline, was needed and welcome. However, the Government still needs to give UK industry more clarity and certainty.
The Home Office, for example, has the funding for new Border Force vessels but has yet to start the formal process for their procurement. Government should place the orders and make sure the work goes to British shipyards.”
The refreshed National Shipbuilding Strategy previously set out how many ships and of what types are to be built in the United Kingdom over the next 30 years.
According to the document:
“To provide greater transparency of these forthcoming opportunities, we have updated the 30 Year Master Plan and developed a 30 Year Cross-Government Shipbuilding Pipeline. The NSO will oversee this pipeline, working with Departments to manage this against UK industrial capacity. As the pipeline spans a 30 year period, it is subject to change and will be agreed through future Spending Reviews. The NSO will update this pipeline at each multi-year Spending Review, however, we will be reliant upon industry delivering programmes to cost and time so that we can minimise changes to the pipeline and provide greater certainty.”
According to a Government statement:
“First published in 2017, the National Shipbuilding Strategy outlined ambitions to transform naval procurement, securing export and design contracts for British naval ships. Building on that success, this refresh outlines the government’s further ambitions to reinvigorate the whole British shipbuilding industry.
Over £4 billion of government investment will galvanise and support shipyards and suppliers across the UK, with new measures including better access to finance, vital skills-building, and funding for crucial research and development into greener vessels and infrastructure. Designed in partnership with industry and delivered by the recently formed National Shipbuilding Office (NSO), the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh will also deliver a pipeline of more than 150 new naval and civil vessels for the UK Government and Devolved Administrations over the next 30 years.
The vessels will include large warships, Border Force cutters, lighthouse vessels and the new National Flagship.”
Here’s the plan.
It’s quite amazing that the Tory’s seemed to be signing up all the devolved administrations (ferries) for a ship building program while providing zero support then tendering out to international competition the vessels that Westminster was responsible for and calling it a national strategy. They took zero attempts for instance to actually get a ferry builder building ferries in the UK. Did they think this was going to happen by magic or were they relying on the SNP. Some times I find it hard to tell if it’s stupidity, ignorance or are they just taking the piss while laughing at… Read more »
There is a company in the Uk which builds ferries, its based in Glasgow , and goes by the name of Ferguson Marine. not sure who owns it thou.
What’s that the UK governments plan for all the Ferries, seems like a joke if it was.
Bring Boris Back!
He’ll build a bridge!
With flowers on !!
So long as it has the ability too lay mines as all British built ferries are/or were by the government had too have mine laying capabilities included in their design David
personally I think our government should be a bit more like Finlands in that everything is part of a defence or civil defence plan as well as doing it’s day job. Things like research vessels should be Able to plug and play supporting the RM and RN cabs etc, boarder force vessels should have a secondary role, the NHS should understand and practice its civil defence responsibilities etc….the US have always been very clear that every US coastguard asset even if it’s focused on peace time constabulary still has a secondary role in defence.
That would be a great idea Johnathan, Finns like the Swiss believe in civil defence ,and that their country comes before their needs ,but alas Britian seems too have lost its way and the individual comes before the security of the Country can’t upset the baying minorities with possible threats too their freedoms
And as a past user of either PAS boats or the Gossie ferry did have a laugh when the Late Dockie Hughs stated in his manifesto when standing as an MP that ” Duty free items should be available on the Gosport Ferry ” Andy
Not trying to facetious but when was the last time the UK government directly ordered a ferry?
We know there’s one government in the UK that orders ferries, but despite the fact they actually own their own yard building ferries, their latest order was awarded to a Turkish company.
The UK government, of all political colours/flavours, has a lot culpability when it comes to the state of shipbuilding in the UK , but I don’t think we can fairly blame them for the choices of the devolved governments.
If you read the strategy you will note there are multiple developed administrations ordering ferries including Liverpool and London. Scotland and Liverpool at the only ones to my knowledge who have made attempts to build in the UK with mixed results.
Must be Boris Fault No No i know Maggie Thatcher it has got to be her fault that Brexit killed the ferry Builders. and had nothing to do with these Yards chasing the fast quick Profits of the off shore oil work. that short term low skilled work that led to yards abandoning ship Building. Ferries are a low quality build that any 3rd world country can do very well at, Yet Scotland fails at and yet they demand more work, and for years the Little SNP have led the simple along a merry dance. Build a better product and… Read more »
PMSL
Brexit is Thatchers fault ..?? That’s a new one !
Thatcher in the end was a pragmatist and went with what worked….not a great lover of her political outlook myself, but she was when all is said and done an effective leader, as was Tony Blair….if you really look at it in the end both were exceptional pragmatists and did what they thought needed to be done…..that’s the problem with everyone after they did what they thought people would like or seemed to like..Boris was probably the very worst example of that rudderless populist approach ( the fact the man jumped on the brexit bandwagon was effectively based on what… Read more »
British yards are capable of building ferries but there’s a premium to building in UK, there’s zero signals from the SNP they’re willing to pay this premium. However its a mute point, there’s also a small matter of WTO rules that tenders have to be placed globally for commercial vessels and you can’t subsidies builds either (Boeing/Airbus dispute). The responses for not following this can lead to tariffs on other goods not connected to shipbuilding and seriously harm other sectors of the economy. This is why the concept of a national flagship was to be a military ship otherwise it… Read more »
“Some times I find it hard to tell if it’s stupidity, ignorance or are they just taking the piss while laughing at us plebs.”
All of them Jim. Every time we waste billions on undelivered stuff, much of that money goes to shareholders in companies who have the Tory party in their back pocket. Just like all those useless Covid PPE contracts. They cloaked privatisation as forcing efficiencies through competition when it was only to rip off the public from the start.
Completely off-topic… my late mother-in-law, Rita, was born and brought up in Glasgow. Her father worked in the shipyards. Some years ago, she and father-in-law were on holiday in LA and they went to see the Queen Mary, now docked in Long Beach, CA. Rita looked up at the QM and said “Last time I saw this ship was in 1934” ( when QM was being launched)!
Hi Crabfat. Lovely story 😀 My Grandad saw the Titanic launch and with regard to the Queen Mary we saw the new one in Durban harbour some years back and she just left a few days ago after a 2nd visit. A magnificent ship. The one thing that struck me on her last visit was the strange proportions of her Red Ensign-very square and the Jack was a non-standard size in relation to the rest of the flag. Generally from memory ensigns used to be 2:1 certainly in the RN and I think this applied to ensigns at sea generally!… Read more »
making us to realiant on drone protect our water spend it big ticket ships make Goverment and american made stuff get us into America . Look we are on top table in europe we need defend our waters with off shore patrol boats and custom sea protection assets with best assets
I would like to see Labour capex plans and detailed strategy for the RN (and other services) once they come into power. Seems a little rich that they have no detailed transparency.
Morning Klonkie(or Good Afternoon in NZ)😀 I don’t think Labour have detailed plans for anything let alone the RN!
Cheers from Durbs
ps I am more of an issues than a Party man so even though marginally Right of Centre not enamoured with the Tories at present. I think Angela Rayner is strangely attractive 😉
“Angela Rayner is strangely attractive” Mate, you made my day!
As for me : “marginally Right of Centre” spot on!
All the best Geoff .
Personally I tend to waver from marginally right to marginally left depending on the subject and how much my knee hurts when I wake up in the morning.
Me too Jonathan-it isn’t an exact science😀
I agree she is strangely attractive but I reckon she might be hard work to live with. Who knows might be wrong. Still after years of Tory incompetence we might as well give another party a crack at it. After all I don’t think they could do any worse than this lot of clueless, corrupt good for nothings.
She might very well be hard work to live with Mr. Bell but I was thinking of a shorter term relationship with narrower parameters 🙂and I mean that in the nicest possible way😃
Whilst this is a good idea , the uk yards will never be value for money in an open tender, Turkish and Romanian yards have far lower costs and health safety and a workforce who are more productive. Unless we adopt the French attitude and subsidise yards the majority of this work will go abroad
I think the point of the national shipbuilding strategy is that all governmentally funded vessels should be built in the UK. Or at least the majority of the vessels built here and final put together construction in UK yards.
oh dear HMG are utterly clueless. They seem to think high quality replacement naval and governmental vessels will materialise out of thin air. Where is the planning? where is the clear ordering and construction contracts? It seems all HMG can state is sound bites for the clueless general public about making the RN the most powerful in Europe, whilst scrapping more vessels then they are replacing. 17 active escort warships , of which maybe 12 are active at any one time is not an impressive fleet. For a nation that is supposed to have one of the richest economies in… Read more »