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On 18 January 2023, Britain’s DE&S procurement agency announced that it had awarded a GBP 1.6 Bn (circa EUR 1.8 Bn) contract to the Team Resolute consortium to build three Fleet Solid Support Ships (FSS) for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Comprising BMT, Harland & Wolff and Navantia UK, Team Resolute had previously gained preferred bidder status in November 2022 after a lengthy competitive bidding and assessment process. The deal marks a further stage in the regeneration of Harland & Wolff as a major force in the British maritime sector. ESD took the opportunity of the contract announcement to ask Harland & Wolff’s Group Chief Executive Officer John Wood, widely credited with the company’s recent revitalisation, about the significance of the award to its future plans.

Contract Background

The FSS design is primarily intended to replenish the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers with munitions, provisions and other non-liquid stores. With a length of 216 m, a beam of 34.5 m and a displacement of circa 37,000 tonnes, the three ships will be second in size only to the carriers amongst ships built in British yards in recent years. Crucial to their new role will be provision of three heavy replenishment rigs controlled from a centralised Replenishment At Sea Control (RASCO) position. Up to two Merlin-sized helicopters will also be embarked to support vertical replenishment. Their main propulsion system is to incorporate four main diesels and twin shaft lines for a sustained speed in excess of 19 knots, whilst two hybrid electrical motors/generators will assist low speed operation. An interesting feature of the BMT design is the provision of a midships integrated bridge that provides optimum visibility for both navigation and replenishment operations.

The FSS contract forms an important part in the UK’s National Shipbuilding Strategy, which aims to revitalise the British maritime sector. The award is particularly significant for the defence operations of Harland & Wolff (formerly InfraStrata). They will be responsible for delivering GBP 700 M to GBP 800 M of work under the programme as manufacturing partner to project lead, Navantia UK. Harland & Wolff’s involvement will result in the return of full-scale shipbuilding to the group’s Belfast shipyard, perhaps best known as builder of the iconic liner Titanic, after a more than 20 year hiatus. There will also be considerable benefits for the group’s other shipyards and wider supply train spread out around the UK.

John Wood, Group Chief Executive Officer, Harland & Wolff (right), pictured with British Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, at the company’s Belfast yard.
Credit: David Cordner courtesy Harland & Wolff

Interview

ESD: First, congratulations to Harland & Wolff (H&W) and the other members of Team Resolute in signing this significant contract. Could you explain the importance of the contract to the group’s overall business and also to its naval segment in particular?

H&W: The contracts will create 1,200 UK shipyard jobs, hundreds of graduate and apprentice opportunities, and an expected 800 further jobs across the UK supply chain. Around 900 jobs will be created at Harland & Wolff’s Belfast site alone, so the contract is a welcome boost for Northern Ireland, bringing naval shipbuilding back to Belfast.

This is the last chance to capture the excellent shipbuilding skills that remain in Belfast and Appledore and pass them on to the next generation of UK shipbuilders before they are lost. The UK Government has seized this opportunity and in doing so ensured the long-term survival of our shipyards and significantly bolstered sovereign shipbuilding capability.

The three new Fleet Solid Support Ships are primarily intended to replenish the Royal Navy’s carrier strike groups. This graphic shows a FSS (left) and ‘Tide’ class fleet tanker (right) operating with a Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier.
Credit: UK MOD Crown Copyright 2018. Modified by Team Resolute

FSS unlocks almost GBP 77M of investment by Team Resolute into new technology that will modernise Harland & Wolff shipyards across the UK. Our partners at Navantia are very proud of their ‘Shipyard 4.0’ technology that uses, among other advances, big data, the internet-of-things, 3D printing, AI, autonomous vehicles, UAVs and block-chain to make the whole shipbuilding process more efficient. The Team Resolute model means that technology will be coming to the UK, making us a strong contender for future naval contracts and allowing us to compete internationally.

Harland & Wolff has a strategy of working across five sectors – defence, energy, renewables, cruise and ferry, and commercial – so we are aiming to be resilient whatever the conditions in the market are. This multi-sector approach means that even if one or two areas are slower, the others should be stronger, meaning we are resilient.

ESD: Clearly, signature of the contract is a major achievement, particularly given Harland & Wolff’s relatively recent return to the naval sphere. What factors do you attribute to Team Resolute’s success?

H&W: We were delighted that Team Resolute’s bid proposal was recognised as the strongest and most innovative way of delivering these vessels which are critical to the Navy’s carrier strike programme. The award of the contract is a testament to the strength of the proposal we submitted, reflecting true value for the UK.

Team Resolute’s bid delivers value across the UK, rather than concentrating it in a central belt in Scotland. Current defence spend in Northern Ireland is GBP 30 per capita, whilst in Scotland it is as much as GBP 360. Team Resolute’s bid puts investment directly into Northern Ireland by revitalising our Belfast shipyard, helping to level up defence spend across the whole of the Union, whilst generating GBP 1.4 Bn of value back to the Treasury.

All three Fleet Solid Support Ships will be integrated at Harland & Wolff’s Belfast shipyard.
Credit: Team Resolute

We also engaged extensively with UK businesses, to maximise use of the UK supply chain in the FSS programme. That means not only working with existing suppliers to the defence industry but broadening opportunities beyond this, engaging with companies new to the sector who have the expertise to provide vital equipment but do not currently do so. To help achieve this, during early 2022 five regional events were staged allowing UK companies interested in partnerships to learn more about opportunities to get involved. The events were held in Appledore, Belfast, Bristol, Edinburgh and Gateshead and were attended by 290 organisations interested in working with Team Resolute. Of these organisations, 186 were SMEs. In total, the programme resulted in 259 one-to-one meetings with procurement teams exploring how they could take part in the programme.

ESD: Could you elaborate on Harland & Wolff’s specific role in delivering the project and how this interfaces with the responsibilities of the other members of Team Resolute?

H&W: The majority of the blocks and modules for the ships will be constructed at Harland & Wolff’s facilities in Belfast and Appledore, following the entirely British-crafted design by the Bath-based company BMT. All integration and final assembly for all three 216-metre-long vessels – each the length of two Premier League football pitches – to be completed at Harland & Wolff’s Belfast yard. Build work will also take place at Navantia’s shipyard in Cadiz in Spain.

ESD: What roles will Harland & Wolff’s various shipyards around the United Kingdom play in delivering the contract? Will the programme essentially be dominated by Belfast or will there also be significant benefits to the other group yards in England and Scotland?

H&W: As mentioned, all of Harland & Wolff’s yards will play a part in the FSS and benefit from the contract. Components will be made at Arnish and Methil [Harland & Wolff’s Scottish yards], which will go into blocks which will be built at Appledore. Blocks will be integrated into vessels at Belfast.

ESD: Clearly delivery of the contract will involve a large challenge in assembling and training a workforce to deliver the project given that the workforce in Belfast (and elsewhere) is currently relatively small. How do you intend to approach this challenge?

H&W: As part of the arrangement we will be investing around GBP 100 M into UK shipyards, including GBP 77 M of infrastructure at Harland & Wolff’s Belfast and Appledore shipyards, and a further GBP 21 M in skills and technology transfer from Navantia UK. This will help to create one of the most advanced shipyards in the UK at Harland & Wolff; a significant boost for future export and domestic shipbuilding.

As well as providing the Royal Navy with essential logistic support capabilities, the Fleet Solid Support Ship contract will help revitalise British shipbuilding as part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy.
Credit: Team Resolute

ESD: What other major challenges do you envisage overcoming in delivering the project to time and budget?

H&W: This is certainly a complex programme but Harland & Wolff has shown it can flex quickly to take on challenging projects. Last year we had Cunard’s Queen Victoria here in Belfast, the largest ship to ever dry dock in the UK. We carried out the work on that on time and on budget. We have the capabilities, the skills and a clear plan to deliver for the UK Ministry of Defence.

ESD: Finally, could you say a few words about your wider ambitions for Harland & Wolff’s naval business?

H&W: The investment being made to develop H&W’s sites in Belfast and Appledore will help to create some of the most advanced shipyards in the UK at Harland & Wolff. We expect this to boost the capacity and capabilities of H&W across the UK, creating opportunities to take on bigger and more complex project work in our areas of expertise.

Investment in FSS will create a strong foundation of modern technology and build a skills base that we can leverage off to complete other contracts, and be competitive when bidding for work for export markets, not just for the UK.

ESD: Mr Wood, thank you very much for your most informative responses

Questions were asked by Conrad Waters.