Babcock wins £30m, 10-year contract to provide dry-dock maintenance for aircraft carriers

The deal was hailed as a “significant milestone” for big ship dockings at Rosyth.

It follows a previous maintenance period where Babcock completed the first docking for HMS Queen Elizabeth at Rosyth in 2019 and includes all routine maintenance and repairs that cannot be done when the vessel is afloat.

In addition to the scheduled dockings, Babcock will provide facilities for any contingency dockings required over the 10-year contract while sustaining and supporting 300 jobs.

The first planned activity will take place next year with a six-week work package.

Sean Donaldson, Babcock’s managing director of marine engineering and systems and the Rosyth site, said: “The investments in our Rosyth infrastructure and facilities over the last 10-years mean we are ideally placed to deliver projects of this size and scale.

“The programme will also benefit from the extensive knowledge and expertise of Babcock’s skilled workforce which is steeped in carrier experience.

“It’s a really proud moment for us.”

Babcock has invested more than £100million in skills, digitisation and site infrastructure over recent years at Rosyth, making it one of the UK’s most modern, capable and competitive manufacturing and repair facilities for large scale marine and energy programmes.

It has a 2000-strong workforce.

The ships’ docking period will also benefit from the digital transformation underway at Rosyth which is already in place to support the build and assembly of the Royal Navy’s new Type 31 Inspiration Class frigates