RFA Fleet Solid Support Ship

[Triton]

Artist's impression of Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Fleet Solid Support Ship.

Source:
http://www.rfanostalgia.org/gallery3/index.php/RFA-DRY-CARGO/Future-Solid-Support/NDP_FSS

 

[Grey Havoc]

On a related note:

Fleet Solid Support ship competition to resume in Spring

The Fleet Solid Support Ship competition will be restarted in Spring this year.

ukdefencejournal.org.uk

Fleet solid support ships for the Royal Navy to be built in Britain | Navy Lookout

www.navylookout.com

 

[Hood]

Some more details emerging of the UK bids for FSS.

Details emerge of Team UK’s Fleet Solid Support ship proposal | Navy Lookout

www.navylookout.com

 

[Grey Havoc]

Inside Britain’s battle to build its own naval ships

Fears are growing that foreign bidders may win a £1.65bn Royal Navy contract

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[timmymagic]

Team Resolute has been selected by the UK MoD to deliver 3 Future Solid Stores Ships which will be derivatives of the Tide Class/Aegir design from BMT. Construction will mainly be at Harland and Wolff at Belfast with some construction at Navantia in Spain.

1,200 new UK jobs pledged as naval shipbuilding anticipates return to Belfast

The Ministry of Defence has selected a preferred bidder to build support ships for the Royal Navy.

www.gov.uk

Ship building returns to Belfast: Harland & Wolff part of team selected as preferred bidders on new MoD contract

Harland & Wolff is set to help build three crucial support ships to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, after being selected as a preferred bidder in a £1.6 billion contract.

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Navy Lookout article

Team Resolute selected as preferred bidder to build the Fleet Solid Support Ships | Navy Lookout

www.navylookout.com

Team Resolute Design - The clear Tide Class design heritage can clearly be seen, should make life easier for the RFA in manning, training and maintaining. They're 16 metres longer than the Tide Class so appear to be in the region of 45,000 tonnes. Basically they're very similar in terms of size and capability to the USNS Lewis and Clark Class Dry Stores Ships of which the US has 14.

 

[Grey Havoc]

New Navy ships to be built in Titanic shipyard under £1.6bn contract

Team Resolute fended off competition from all-British bid

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[timmymagic]

Video from DE&S. Shows the ship in some detail and also alongside QE, T45 and Tide Class to give an impression of its size.

They're going to be big...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1615742305348063232

View: https://twitter.com/DefenceES/status/1615742305348063232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1615742305348063232%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=

 

[timmymagic]

A really very good video from Navantia of FSS in operation...real pity they decided not to go with HRAS...

Tonnage is listed as 39,000 tonnes in the video. The same displacement as a fully loaded Tide Class Oiler. The Fort Class were 32,000 full load so shes a fair bit larger, the Fort Rosalie Class were 23,000 tonnes full load. So despite the fact we're replacing 4 ships with 3 (in practice 1 ship with 3...) the overall tonnage available is increasing from 108,000 tonnes to 117,000 tonnes.

https://vimeo.com/790140588?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=87432355

All in all the RFA will start to be in a good place. 2 Wave Class, 4 Tide Class, 3 FSS, 3 Bay Class and the new RFA Proteus MROSS (with another to come) and MCM Mothership (conversion of MV Island Crown). All we need to be back in a really good place is manning....and a replacement for both Diligence and Argus....unfortunately the powers that be don't think Diligence needs a replacement as a repair ship (Island Crown could do the MCM mothership role in the Gulf) and Argus is going to soldier on into the 2030's...

 

[Grey Havoc]

Royal Navy ships at risk as auditors refuse to sign off Titanic shipyard’s accounts

Harland & Wolff shares suspended after missing financial statement deadline

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[Grey Havoc]

From back in June:

Harland and Wolff – the revival of a UK shipbuilder | Navy Lookout

www.navylookout.com

What a difference a few months make:

Shipyard Sale Expected as Harland & Wolff is Insolvent, Sets Administration

For the second time in five years, the parent company of famed shipbuilder Harland & Wolff is heading for administration with the board confirming the...

maritime-executive.com

It appears that the current and previous governments were quite correct in withholding 200 million pounds of taxpayer money. The real question is whether Fleet Solid Support is going to get officially cut with the upcoming defense review. The 60% domestic UK content figure looks unworkable at this point and the RFA can’t man a single solid support ship let alone 3. Since the inception of FSS, two elderly Fort class ships were sold to Egypt, the 2 Wave class are laid up for eventually disposal and 1 Tide class is laid up, one is being overhauled and 2 are operational. It is doubtful that Fort Victoria can be crewed for the 2025 aircraft carrier deployment or will ever go to sea again. Even if the ongoing RFA strike is resolved, there is no guarantee that any settlement, no matter how favorable, will encourage enough RFA recruiting to cover the current fleet, let alone 3 FSS units.

Harland & Wolff: What’s gone wrong at the Titanic shipyard?

There is a growing expectation that Harland and Wolff's holding company will soon be placed into administration.

www.bbc.com

Stormont ministers urged to ‘go directly to PM’ over future of Harland and Wolff

The shipbuilder has announced that its holding company is to go into administration.

www.bournemouthecho.co.uk

Jobs fear over Spanish bid for Harland & Wolff (The Sunday Times, subscription or registration may be required)

Harland & Wolff races to keep its shipyards alive (ft.com, subscription or registration may be required)

 

[Grey Havoc]

Shareholders to be wiped out as Titanic shipbuilder sinks into administration

Harland & Wolff investors say restructuring experts moved toward administration too quickly

www.telegraph.co.uk

Harland’s most valuable remaining asset is arguably its share of a £1.6bn contract to build three support ships for the Royal Navy.

Large chunks of the ships were due to be fabricated at Appledore, with the rest of the work done by fellow contractor Navantia, the Spanish state-owned shipbuilder, in Cadiz.

The vessels would have then been assembled at Harland’s historic shipyard in Belfast.

However, the company’s financial troubles have plunged the project into crisis.

In recent weeks, bosses at Harland – assisted by Rothschild – have initiated talks with potential buyers who could take the business on, with Navantia emerging as the frontrunner.