6 Aug 2014

Babcock starts work under small boat fleet support contract

Babcock has begun work under the recently awarded contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide repair and maintenance to small boats used by the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, British Army and MoD Police, which came into effect last month (July 2014).

Babcock is one of the companies appointed by the MoD Commercially Supported Shipping (CSS) team to provide support services to the small boat fleet, including over 800 inflatables, five dive boats, ten Mexeflotes (landing raft/pontoons), and Gibraltar region police and patrol boats, under a three year contract with the option to extend for an additional two years.  In addition to repair and maintenance services, Babcock may also be required to undertake spares provisioning, post design services which could include modification work, and storage.

Since the contract commenced this month work has already been undertaken in Gibraltar and on the 14.2m Dive Boats, including boat servicing, engine maintenance and parts procurement.  This has been successfully completed to cost, time and quality.

Babcock Naval Engineering Director Simon Knight said: “By managing our established specialist small boat repair and maintenance supply chain we can give cross-boat support across varied boat types and regions, giving Babcock exceptional reach and ability to respond to requirements.  We are delighted to have already made a good start, with the completion of work to date on-time and in-budget, and look forward to continuing to deliver successfully and support the MoD in line with requirments.”

Alistair Hughes, MoD Boats Team Leader, said: “The award of these contracts follows 18 months of intensive activity between the team and industry and we have established good working relationships with Babcock and our other suppliers to ensure we maintain this critical component of our Armed Forces.“