Page 30: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2006)

30 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News

FSL Docks Frigate

Fleet Support Limited (FSL) started work on the latest Royal Navy Type 23 frigate to enter its facilities for mainte- nance. The docking of the Plymouth- based HMS Portland is a five-month pro- gram to upgrade the 1999-built ship. The enhancement package includes a com- plete upgrade of the ship's aviation facili- ties that will enable her to operate the

Merlin helicopter, and the fitting of the

Surface Ship Torpedo Defense suite, improving its employability around the world. This is coupled with extensive refurbishment work of both hull and liv- ing accommodation. FSL Engineering

Director Mal Lewis said, "HMS Portland will be another opportunity for us to demonstrate our growing expertise in work on Type 23 frigates and to develop our aspirations towards becoming a cen- tre of excellence for this class of ship."

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Shipbuilding Technology

VT Loads Out Destroyer Bow Section

The bow section of the second Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer,

HMS Dauntless, was loaded out from VT Shipbuilding's facility in

Portsmouth Naval Base for transport to Scotland.

The 1,000-ton steel section sailed from Portsmouth on a four-day voyage via the English Channel and Irish Sea to the Govan yard on

Clydeside of Type 45 program prime contractor BAE Systems

Naval Ships.

HMS Dauntless' bow was carefully wheeled out on powerful trac- tor conveyor units and transported some 100 yards to the barge VT

Woolston moored adjacent to the main VT shipbuilding hall in a three-hour operation. The structure is 164 ft. (50 m) long and 46 ft. (14 m) high, and has taken nearly 20 months to build. "The lessons learned on ship 01 mean that we have significantly reduced the number of man hours required to build the section for ship 02," said

VT Type 45 Project Director John Richardson. "The level of outfit has also been considerably higher as a result of the design evolving and maturing."

The bow section of HMS Dauntless is loaded out from the VT

Shipbuilding Assembly Hall in Portsmouth.

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