NEWS STORY
Posted: 06/09/2003 14:13:22

New Era in Shipbuilding

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon heralded “a new era for Portsmouth as well as its Naval Base” as he officially opened the new shipbuilding facility which VT Group claim is “among the most advanced naval shipbuilding yards in the world.”

The £50 million scheme is expected to yield productivity improvements of up to 20 per cent through increased levels of automation in both the fabrication of component parts and in the construction process itself.

One of the first tasks for the new facility will be to build blocks of the new Type 45 destroyers for the Royal Navy, but there is still potential for expansion on the 33-acre site, and VT have an eye to building large blocks for the future carrier programme.

There will still be capacity for the yard to handle work for overseas navies.

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