£100 Million Investment, £1.6 Billion in Contracts
The UK MoD has awarded £1.6 billion (US$1.98 billion) in contracts for three naval support ships to Team Resolute, creating 900 shipbuilding jobs in Belfast.
Consisting of BMT, Harland & Wolff and Navantia UK, Team Resolute will deliver three Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). Set to invest around £100 million in UK shipyards, including £77 million of infrastructure at Harland & Wolff’s Belfast and Appledore shipyards, and a further £21 million in skills and technology transfer from Navantia UK, Harland & Wolff will create one of the most advanced shipyards in Britain – significant for future export and domestic shipbuilding. With around 900 jobs alone to be created at Harland & Wolff’s Belfast site, the contract is a welcome boost for Northern Ireland, bringing naval shipbuilding back to Belfast.
Expanding and enhancing Harland & Wolff’s shipbuilding facilities, the FSS fleet will be the first ships built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast since MV Anvil Point was launched in 2002. Strengthening shipbuilding in England and Northern Ireland, this contract will complement existing Type 26 and Type 31 frigate construction contracts in Scotland, bolstering the UK’s shipbuilding capabilities.
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 Bath-based BMT. Build work will also take place at Navantia’s shipyard in Cadiz in Spain, with final assembly for all three 216m vessels to be completed at Harland & Wolff’s Belfast yard.
Delivering on ambitions to bolster UK shipbuilding, as laid out in the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh, the contract aims to deliver significant capital investment in the UK while providing ships which are essential to the carrier-led Maritime Strike Group. The ships will be the second longest UK military vessels, behind the two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. They will have commonality with the RFA’s Tide-class fleet tankers, also built to a BMT design.
