Cammell Laird Completes First Year of Second RFA Deal

Merseyside shipyard and engineering services company Cammell Laird has completed the first year of the second five-year period of its cluster contract with the UK Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA).

Cammell Laird CEO John Syvret CBE said the first anniversary marked ‘a period of significant progress’ and added that the company would now be redoubling its efforts to deliver the best possible service to the RFA. He emphasized that the RFA contract plays a key role in the company’s rapid growth in the commercial marine, offshore wind and civil nuclear markets. He said that the stringent Health and Safety, project management and quality requirements demanded by the MoD helped significantly in other markets.

Work began in summer 2013 on the second period of Cammell Laird’s through-life support cluster contract to maintain nine of the 13 ships in the RFA flotilla. The cluster contract was first awarded to Cammell Laird in 2008, then in 2013 following reviews of performance and value for money, the contract was extended for a further five years to 2018.

“The last year has seen us complete three major refits and start two more,” said Mr Syvret. “The successful delivery of the three refits, to the Ministry of Defence’s satisfaction, reinforces the value of clustering. We have further continued to deliver the global reach element of the contract helping maintain the vessels wherever and whenever they need it. The cluster agreement is Cammell Laird’s biggest single contract and is enabling the company to invest in our world class facilities and workforce. We have spent more than £35m on training. We now have one of the biggest apprenticeship programmes in the British maritime sector with 115 talented young people either in training or who have graduated into the company. Cammell Laird will continue to do all in its power to continue to meet the RFA’s standards and expectations.”

“I would like to emphasize the breadth and calibre of engineering work being undertaken for the RFA. This is a complex and hugely demanding contract and it showcases the exceptional expertise, skills and facilities we have at Cammell Laird.”

Cammell Laird managing director Linton Roberts said the three major refits completed in the last 12 months were to RFA Fort Rosalie, RFA Gold Rover and RFA Wave Ruler. The value of the three refits was circa £41M and they employed 200 people directly and indirectly. He said the company is also well underway with its biggest ever refit for the RFA to date, the year-long overhaul of RFA Fort Victoria in Birkenhead which is employing 200 workers plus sub-contractors.

Mr Roberts said over the last year Cammell Laird has undertaken 14 assisted maintenance periods (AMPs) as part of the global reach element to the contract on seven ships in the UK, UAE, Bahrain, South Africa, the Caribbean and the United States.

Cammell Laird has further provided more than 1173 spares requests in the last year. In addition Cammell Laird has provided 195 design support tasks worth £2.1m, which brings the total number of design tasks to 1,524, since 2008, at a value of £10.2m.

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Press Release, July 11, 2014; Image: Cammell Laird