A transport barge which will carry sections of the new Fleet Solid Support (FSS) being built for the Royal Navy has arrived in Navantia’s shipyard in Devon, England.
The barge, named Navantia UK Seahorse, arrived at the firm’s Appledore shipyard earlier this week, as per a social media post.
Sections destined for the three FSS ships will be built directly on the barge, then floated to the firm’s Harland & Wolff yard in Belfast, Northern Ireland for consolidation into complete hulls.
As per Navantia, the arrival of the purpose-built 85m, 1,400-tonne barge means “Appledore can assemble much larger sections than it could before.”
General Manager at Appledore Laura Correa Mendioroz commented: “We cut steel for RFA Resurgent back in December, and we are now well into block production here at Appledore.”
RFA Resurgent will be the first of three FSS boats being built for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) as logistical support vessels for Royal Navy warships. She is scheduled to enter service in 2031.
Construction is taking place across three sites, with Navantia also making the 120m central sections of the ships at its Puerto Real shipyard in Cadiz. Eventually the 39,000-ton, 216-metre vessels will be assembled in Belfast.
To date the firm has invested in excess of £114 million in Appledore and Belfast to help deliver the FSS programme. Navantia UK took over the £1.6bn FSS contract when it acquired Harland & Wolff last year after the historic shipbuilder went into administration.
- You can read more details about the FSS programme on the Navantia website