BAE Systems boss says shipyard may close

One of BAE Systems' major shipyards could be closed, the company's UK chief executive Nigel Whitehead has said.

He told the Sunday Telegraph a decision would be made by the end of the year.

The firm was working with ministers to explore all options for maintaining the UK's shipbuilding capability, he said.

The future of its three main shipyards - in Portsmouth, and Govan and Scotstoun on the River Clyde - after two new aircraft carriers are completed has been in doubt for some time.

There are fears there will be insufficient work available to keep all three busy and profitable as cuts in defence spending take their toll.

"The issue is how to consolidate... but make sure that we've preserved the capability to design and manufacture complex warships," Mr Whitehead told the newspaper.

"We anticipate that there will be a reduction in footprint and we anticipate... that part of that might actually be the cessation of manufacturing at one of the sites."

Earlier this year the company appointed consultants to carry out a review of the business. The firm's yard in Portsmouth is widely believed to be the most vulnerable, with 1,500 jobs at risk.

However, two bases on the River Clyde, at Govan and Scotstoun (The old Yarrow shipyard) are also under scrutiny.

BAE Systems says it is working closely with the government to explore all options for maintaining the UK's shipbuilding capability.

The Ministry of Defence says that it is up to the company itself to decide how best to deliver the naval vessels

For more on the story see BBC Scotland website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20483438

While the above news is not new to the shipbuilders involved what is pretty new is being regarded as “A Footprint” you just have to love the buzzwords being used today, the British Isle’s losing yet another hard pressed shipyard, is it any wonder that the last two ships ordered by the U.K. Government went to a yard in Korea, this was for the build of two new fleet oil tankers for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary a job that was only tendered by one of the remaining shipyards in Britain and even they dropped out of the running as they felt they did not have the required expertise anymore to build such a vessel,

along with another less well publicised ship to be built that being a research ship for work in the Antarctic by the National Environmental Research Centre.

All in all a pretty damming indictment on a country that just gives up on it’s skills base because the bean counters run it all now.

This ship is being built in Northern Spain and is due to be launched next autumn.

A ship to do the same work as the RSS BRANSFIELD which was built at the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb in 1970

Nothing against the shipbuilders of Northern Spain they have been building ships for many years but why is this work not being done in a British yard and helping to secure the future of the skills required to build ships of this type, a question that has been asked of successive governments since the demise of the fiasco which was British Shipbuilders in the 1980’s.

A picture above of the RSS BRANSFIELD at work in Antarctica (Photo by G.Hart)

doing the type of work that the new ship will also be doing the one that is just now being built in Northern Spain.

Lest we forget!

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Replica of HMS BOUNTY sinks

The replica HMS BOUNTY in happier times at the Tall Ships in Halifax 2012
(Photo from the Loftsman Collection)

The sad loss of the replica HMS BOUNTY and two of her crew including her Captain
(Photo credit unknown but probably by the U.S.Coastgaurd)

It was sad to see the loss of a fine old replica ship the past week and even sadder to see that two life’s were lost along with the old vessel going down in the surrounds of the huge storm that hit the Eastern Seaboard of The United States given the name Sandy.

This replica which was built for the movie that had Marlon Brando in it called “Mutiny on the Bounty” was built in Nova Scotia around 50 years ago.

Deck Boy on the MV KAWATIRI

MV KAWATIRI Ship No 399 (Photo credit unknown)

We have a story sent in to the website from Gary King about his time as a Deck Boy on the USSCo vessel KAWATIRI Ship No 399

Along with some photographs as well

You can read more of this story on the ship pages of the KAWATIRI on the website

ARCADIAN Ship No 473- A Whale of a Tale

MV ARCADIAN Ship No 473

A truly amazing story has come to light regarding a voyage by the ARCADIAN in June 1965 across the stormy North Atlantic from Canada to the U.K.

She had a very valuable deck cargo in the form of four live very rare Beluga Whales that had been caught by fishermen in the St Lawrence and were wanted by Cleethorpes Zoo in England.

There was a sad end to this voyage as only one of the precious cargo survived.

The female Beluga that survived was soon to die in captivity a couple of months later at  the Marine Land Zoo in England.

 

Now a request for help has came into the Leithshipyards website from the Aquarium of Quebec in Canada looking for information on this voyage.

A Beluga Whale of the type that they tried to ship on the MV ARCADIAN in 1965

The rare whale is on the endangered species list.

We shall soon have some new information about this amazing voyage.

SOUTH STEYNE on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels

An indication of the historical importance that Australians place on the SOUTHSTEYNE is shown by the fact that she is now on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels and this should also means that she will be kept up to a good standard of condition and maintenance which should mean that this fine old ship will be around for a lot longer yet.

SS SOUTH STEYNE at her berth in Sydney Australia

The photograph above is from the curator of the Historical Ships Register in Australia, a country that values it’s maritime heritage as the only means of getting there prior to around 50 years ago was by ship of course.

For more information visit the Australian Register of Historic Vessels

New Zealand Cement Carriers-update

GOLDEN BAY departing Wellington, New Zealand
(Photograph is courtesy of the Fletcher challenge Trust Archive)

The Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb were to build a total of three Cement Carriers for work in New Zealand and these highly specialised ships were a common sight around the caost of New Zealand for many years.

A fourth ship was also built for New Zealand although this ship was built at the Dundee yard of what was then know as Robb Caledon following the takeover of the old Dundee yard by Henry Robb shipbuilders in 1968

All were to work for the Golden Bay cement company which was eventually taken over by Fletcher Challenge

One of the ships engineers Tony Skilton who sailed on all four of the vessels has been helping the archivists at Fletcher Challenge Trust to identify some of the many photographs which have been uncovered and with the kind help of Dorothy there at the trust they have found many old photographs of the three vessels built at the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb

The original GOLDEN BAY Ship No 430 built and launched in 1953

The JOHN WILSON Ship No 478 built and launched in 1961 and

The Diesel Electric Vessel LIGAR BAY Ship No 488 built and launched in 1964

The Leith Shipyards website is pleased to be able to show the new photographs found and would like to thank Engineer Tony Skilton and the staff at the Fletcher Challenge Trust Archives (in particular Dorothy) for there time and help and of course for the permission to show them on the Leith Shipyards website.