UK Docks, which already services Royal Navy vessels, has won a new £250m contract to service five more.
The Ministry of Defence has announced that care of the vessels – HMS Tamar, HMS Spey, HMS Medway, HMS Trent and HMS Forth – will now be the responsibility of UK Docks up until 2031.
And with the vessels operating worldwide in the South Atlantic, North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific often staying on duty for months or even years at a time, the South Shields-based company will operate globally to ensure the maximum efficiency of the Royal Navy vessels.
The contract represents another huge win against stiff competition for UK Docks, who, in 2018 won a £150m contract to service HMS Protector, HMS Enterprise and HMS Echo in a 10-year contract.
That 2018 contract was a huge step forward for a company originally founded by Harry Wilson in a single boat repair yard in South Shields in 1995.
And this week’s new £250m deal takes UK Docks, which now operates dockyards and boat yards around the country, to a higher level again.
UK Docks’ managing director Jonathan Wilson, Harry’s son, said:
“We are delighted to have secured this new contract, which is the culmination of several years’ work showing UK Docks can deliver the highest standards of service and professionalism the Royal Navy requires for the maintenance of its vessels.
“To have been selected by the Ministry of Defence to support and maintain these five vessels ahead of some of the most historic and prestigious companies operating in this sector is an honour and a responsibility that we are very much aware of.
“The new contract is also a vote of confidence in UK Docks’ management and workforce and a recognition of the services that we have provided to the MoD over the last two decades.
“We see the awarding of this contract to UK Docks as a resounding vote of confidence in homegrown British industry, skills and capability and we look forward to putting those resources at the service of these five important vessels.”
The five vessels are offshore patrol vessels, designed to be deployed globally and capable of conducting constabulary duties such as anti-piracy, counter-terrorism and anti-smuggling tasks that had previously been conducted by frigates and destroyers.
The first three – Forth, Medway and Trent – were built by BAE Systems shipyards on the River Clyde in Glasgow – Forth replaced HMS Clyde as the Falkland Islands guardship in 2019, Medway was deployed as the long-term Atlantic Patrol Task (North) ship in the Caribbean in 2020 and Trent was deployed to the Mediterranean in 2020 and is now permanently based in Gibraltar.
Jonathan Wilson explained:
“Because of their long-term deployment overseas, it means UK Docks’ staff will be doing a lot of travelling abroad to carry out inspections and oversee maintenance, updates and improvements.
“It’s a logistically demanding job but one that we are very much capable of as a team and which we are very much looking forward to beginning.
“The new contract will create dozens of jobs here, based primarily in South Shields and Gosport on the south coast.
“We also expect well over 100 support roles to be created to provide the capability and availability of support needed at reach to fulfil the contract where we will deliver remote support, technical, logistical and design agent services and management.”
UK Docks offers dry docks and boat repair facilities, providing vessel maintenance, refit and conversion services.
The family-owned company was founded by managing director Harry Wilson in a single boat repair yard in South Shields in 1995.
