An Anglo-South Korean consortium led by BAE Systems has become the first team to declare its interest in building six tanker ships for the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) in the first phase of the Defence Ministry’s Maritime Afloat Reach and Sustainability program.
BAE, Britain’s biggest shipbuilder, announced a team involving BMT Defence Services and Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering on Feb. 15, the same day industry responses to a pre-qualifying questionnaire on the tankers had to be returned to the MoD. The Surface Fleet Solutions business of BAE will act as lead contractor and program manager. BMT, the British company that designed the two 65,000-ton aircraft carriers planned for the Royal Navy, will provide the tanker design. Daewoo will build the ships in South Korea.
K.W. Cheong, director of special ship management at Daewoo, said, “This is an excellent opportunity for cooperation between our two countries; the U.K. being the home of naval shipbuilding and Korea as the hub of commercial shipbuilding. I think the combination of BAE Systems’ extensive naval domain knowledge with our own skills and resources will produce excellent results.”
David Rainford, commercial director of BMT Defence Services, said, “As a relatively small, innovative organization, we are pleased with the smooth and positive fashion in which BAE Systems has welcomed us as their design partner. Through a commercial approach we will be able to provide a simple yet effective fleet tanker.”
The British are pushing ahead with the program as current RFA single-hull tankers do not meet maritime safety standards. More than a dozen foreign and British companies are expected to respond to the prequalification questionnaire. Those numbers will be reduced to about six bidders and cut to a maximum of three later this year before the MoD selects a winner. The first ship is expected in service by 2012.
In an unusual move, the competition has been thrown open to foreign shipyards, a decision that could potentially cause controversy here. It’s hoped that big commercial yards like Daewoo will allow the cash-strapped MoD to acquire the tankers at a reduced price compared with building them at naval yards in Britain. In addition, the tanker construction timetable clashes with Britain’s plan to build the two aircraft carriers. The warships, the biggest ever built here, will soak up for several years virtually all of the capacity in the few British shipyards still in operation.
The carrier program is scheduled to get the go-ahead in the next few weeks. However, doubts remain over the exact timing of the construction. Currently, the plan is to have the first of the two warships in service during 2014. But that timetable would leave no capacity here to build at least the first three tankers in local yards. Nevertheless, BAE has left the door open to have the tankers built in Britain if any slippage in the carrier program creates gaps in workload.
Vic Emery, managing director of BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions, said, “While it is intended that all vessels will be constructed in Korea, a unique feature the consortium offers, in terms of flexibility, is the ability to provide a U.K. build option, should such an approach become necessary.”
The Maritime Afloat Reach and Sustainability program will become part of the workload of the proposed maritime joint venture between BAE Systems and VT Group, to be called BVT Surface Fleet upon its completion.
The tanker fleet is part of a 2 billion-pound ($3.9 billion) effort to upgrade RFA logistics capabilities. Further classes of ships eventually will be built, updating British capabilities for forward aviation support, delivery of bulk consumables other than oil, and providing sea-based logistics ships able to deliver ammunition, food and other supplies.
It’s not clear yet whether the British will allow these ships also to be built overseas.
