31 Jan 2019

Work completed on Estonian minehunter at Babcocks Rosyth facilities

 Babcock has successfully completed the installation of a capability upgrade on the first of three Estonian Navy minehunter vessels scheduled to be undertaken at Babcock’s Rosyth facilities in Fife.

EML Admiral Cowan – the flagship of the Estonian Navy and part of its minesweeping flotilla – underwent a five month docking period at Rosyth between July and December 2018.

Under contract by Thales UK, an upgraded mission package was carried out by Babcock on the Sandown-class minehunter, which included fitting the Thales Sonar 2193, an upgraded navigation system, as well as the Thales M-CUBE command and control system – along with several other upgrades and defect rectifications.

A team of 20 Babcock employees, including electricians, engineers, designers and glass reinforced plastic specialist shipwrights, undertook the work – working alongside Thales and Ship’s Staff to deliver the scope.

Admiral Cowan will now return to Estonia prior to undergoing trials in the North Sea in May to demonstrate full operational capability.

The second Estonian Navy minehunter vessel, EML Sakala, arrived at the Babcock Rosyth site in December 2018 to undergo the same package of work. This will be followed by EML Ugandi in late Spring 2019.

Sean Donaldson, Managing Director of the Babcock Rosyth site, said: ‘We were delighted to upgrade EML Admiral Cowan for the Estonian Navy and look forward to carrying out the same package of work on her fellow minehunters, EML Sakala and EML Ugandi.’

He added: ‘Our Common User Facility in Rosyth provides first class docking and support facilities to undertake this kind of work and, with a skilled and experienced workforce on-site, we offer the complete package for visiting ships.’