Engineering news
BAE's Glasgow shipyard
A series of consultations on the future of shipbuilding at BAE Systems’ yards in Glasgow is taking place this week as the company said it was considering investing in its manufacturing facilities on the Clyde to "help ensure their long-term future".
In November, BAE announced the closure of its Portsmouth shipbuilding yard, bringing to an end more than 500 years of shipbuilding in a city that also plays host to one of the two remaining surface warship bases operated by the Royal Navy.
The closure will result in almost 1,000 job losses at Portsmouth and the loss of more than 830 posts across BAE’s two naval shipyards in Glasgow, as well as the Rosyth site, also in Scotland, and Filton in southwest England. Some of the workers being made redundant in Portsmouth are said to have been offered a "lifeline" by fellow defence giant Lockheed Martin, which has bases in Havant, Hampshire, and Whiteley, Hampshire, as well as elsewhere in the UK.
BAE has said it will continue to provide maintenance and support facilities at Portsmouth to the Type 45 destroyers and the two 65,000-tonne Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers which are being constructed, and are due to enter service by 2020. The coalition government said it was investing £100 million to improve maintenance and support capabilities at the Portsmouth dockyard.
Last week, BAE released details of two potential investment options for Glasgow ahead of public consultations which are due to be held near its shipyards in Govan and Scotstoun this week. The first option, a single site strategy, involves building a new "state-of-the-art" manufacturing facility at Scotstoun, while the second option, a two-site strategy, involves expanding and improving existing facilities at both Govan and Scotstoun. A decision on which policy to pursue is expected by the end of the year, the company said.
BAE said: "Work to mature our facilities’ investment proposals in Glasgow is ongoing. As part of this, we are assessing the best configuration of the facilities to ensure we offer value for money to our customers and have the flexibility to remain competitive in the long-term."
For the potential Glasgow upgrades, BAE said it was working on developing detailed design plans and engaging external authorities such as Glasgow City Council and regulatory authorities including the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. "This involves conducting environmental impact assessments and public consultations," BAE said. It said that the single site upgrade would speed up build time for new ships by up to almost a year-and-a-half. "The two site option would enable a shorter build programme of approximately six months less than we could achieve with the facilities as they are today," the defence giant said.
Under the first option, construction work would include building a new 330m covered modern dock hall, steelwork preparation facility, steelwork fabrication facility, paint cell, supporting offices and employee welfare facilities and a quay, which would enable ship blocks and equipment to be transported by sea. Construction under this option would be expected to begin in January 2015 and go on until 2017. BAE said the investment would create a "modern facility, enabling all manufacturing to take place under cover on one site, with supporting functions alongside".
Under the second option, construction work at Govan would include extensions to the existing fabrication and main ship build halls. A new paint cell and outfit hall would also be constructed and the existing berth would be levelled to create a new transfer quay. Construction work at Scotstoun would include upgrades to the dry docks and strengthening of the deep water berth to support mobile cranes. If this option is selected, construction would be expected to begin at Govan from February 2015 until 2017, while work at Scotstoun would take place from 2017-2018.
BAE said: "We are committed to sustaining skilled jobs in the local communities in which we operate and we will continue to invest in our apprentice and graduate programmes which play an integral part in developing the next generations of our workforce." The company recently announced an expansion of its country-wide apprenticeship programme.