New British News

The maiden voyage of a new British aircraft carrier will seek to show allies that post-Brexit Britain is ready to defend Western interests and eager to see China respect international rules, the vessel’s commander said.HMS Queen Elizabeth took part in NATO exercises in the Mediterranean this week, ahead of the eight-month voyage that will cross through the South China Sea in a signal to Beijing that sea lanes must remain open.The carrier is “a hugely powerful statement,” Commodore Steve Moorhouse…

On Thursday, 26 September, the ceremonial naming of the new British polar research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough will take place at the Cammell Laird Birkenhead shipyard.The ship was commissioned by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council, built by Cammell Laird, and operated by the British Antarctic Survey. This vessel is designed to transform how ship-borne science is conducted in the Polar Regions and its commissioning is part of a major UK Government polar infrastructure…

Britain's transport minister has defended awarding a 14 million-pound ($18 million) contract for shipping goods after Brexit to a new ferry company that owns no ships.The government last week awarded three contracts to charter extra ferries to ease congestion if the United Kingdom fails to secure a trade deal before leaving the European Union in March.The smallest contract was won by Seaborne Freight, a British business that has never previously operated a ferry route, raising concern about whether the new service would be ready."I make no apologies for supporting a new British business," Transport Minister Chris Grayling told BBC radio on Wednesday. "We have looked very carefully at this business.

Next generation economizers are being introduced by Ulmatec Pyro. This will carry on the history of 35 years of heat recovery from ship’s exhaust – a technology that’s still unknown for many in the marine industry. You can’t ignore waste energy recovery systems if you want to participate in discussions about efficient marine designs. That statement is based on the fact that most diesel engines on board a vessel still operate on an efficiency scale in the 30 percent range. The remaining 60-70 percent represents losses, converted into heat.

Eversheds International says that UK trade would clearly be impacted by the Brexit vote. "We saw an immediate effect on currency and share prices, although there are signs that the market is settling down after the initial post-vote furore," says a report by Eversheds. In terms of longer term impact, there are some matters which are already tolerably clear, for example that any changes to the cost of trade with the EU are likely to affect freight volumes at British ports. However, the precise nature and extent of the effect on UK trade will depend entirely on the form of relationship which is ultimately agreed both with the EU and with other trading partners.

British Marine has today unveiled its strong new identity that stands out within the context of modern brands in the marine sector, providing a solid focal point for the members the organisation serves. British Marine now represents a durable brand for its members to be part of, which will serve them in promoting their businesses and British excellence in the UK and overseas markets. The use of the British Marine logo is an important benefit of membership and the organisation will continue to invest heavily in its ‘Look for the Logo’ campaign to encourage consumers to buy from British Marine members. The new look is the result of a year-long re-brand exercise which has been undertaken in-house with the Executive Team working with the Membership and Marketing Committee.

HMS Duncan, the Royal Navy’s sixth Type 45 Destroyer, has entered into service from BAE four months ahead of schedule. The 7,500 tonne vessel will now embark on a program of trials to prepare the ship and her crew for operational deployment. HMS Duncan is the final Type 45 to enter service with the Royal Navy. Her handover to the Fleet marks the end of a 13-year build programme with BAE Systems to deliver the six ships – Daring, Dauntless, Diamond, Dragon, Defender and Duncan.

'Duncan', the RN's sixth new Type 45 destroyer, puts to sea for trials attended by Royal Navy, Ministry of Defence & BAE Systems personnel. The yet to be commissioned Duncan quickly set about testing her speed and manoeuvrability, soon after leaving the BAE Systems' Scotstoun, Glasgow, shipyard. The trials will see the 7,500-tonne destroyer taken to over 30 knots (56km/h) and turning very tight figures-of-eight. She will spend four weeks at sea trialling her power and propulsion systems as well as her weapons systems.

Pall Corporation selected by BAE Systems to supply freshwater generator systems for the UK Royal Navy’s Type 45 Destroyer. The Type 45 ships are designed and built by BAE Systems and are the most advanced warships ever produced in the UK. The Pall Integrated Membrane System (IMS) freshwater generator is designed to transform any type of sea water into drinkable water. Sea trials have demonstrated that it works efficiently with the high contamination levels found in some coastal waters.

The Portsmouth-based Type 45 destroyer is on her first operational deployment in the Gulf where she is working with partner nations, including Saudi Arabia, to disrupt drug smuggling, trafficking and piracy in the region. The port visit to Al Jubayl provided a good opportunity to host 200 selected guests and VIPs so HMS Daring could display her impressive capabilities as an air defence warship. Helping to reinforce the good working relationship that exists between the UK and Saudi Arabia…

The third of the Royal Navy's cutting-edge Type 45 destroyers blasted a Sea Viper missile out of her silo at three times the speed of sound, obliterating the jet drone target in the sky above. The successful firing of Sea Viper means that HMS Diamond is now ready to take her place as a fully operational warship, capable of deploying anywhere across the world. 'Sea Viper' is a state-of-the-art air defence weapons system which is a combination of Aster missiles, Sampson radar (the spinning ball on top of the mast)…

HMS Daring has been working with the USS Carl Vinson and her impressive air wing of fast jets to test Daring's Sampson radar and control system which allows multiple targets to be tracked over ranges of up to hundreds of miles. That information is fed to the Aster missiles in the silo on the ship's forecastle. With the  long-range radar, Daring can track many thousands of air contacts, giving her unprecedented surveillance of huge areas of airspace. HMS Daring, the first of six cutting-edge Type 45 destroyers…

Liferaft Systems Australia (LSA) has secured a contract worth approximately $4.8m to supply Marine Evacuation Systems to the UK Ministry of Defense for use on two new British aircraft carriers. LSA European Manager Mr. Peter Rea said it was the biggest single contract since the company was founded over 16 years ago. “LSA has been working on finalizing this contract for about 18 months after we were initially approached by Aircraft Carrier Alliance who had noticed the design and quality of our product” he said.

Effective June 9, MAN B&W Diesel has acquired the Alstom Engines business, and effective immediately the Alstom Diesel engine business was renamed MAN B&W Diesel Ltd. with its headquarters in Stockport, Cheshire. Dr. Hans-J. Schulte, President of MAN B&W Diesel, stated: "We welcome the new British members of the MAN B&W Diesel team to the MAN family. The U.K. company manufactures diesel engines under the Mirrlees Blackstone, Ruston and Paxman brand names. The existing engine programs - which will continue to be strongly marketed according to the company - are complementary to the extensive range of engines in the power bracket between 500 and 68,640 kW being designed and produced by the MAN B&W Diesel Group at its other locations in Europe.

Alstom Diesel engines and its three well-regarded brands — Mirrlees Blackstone, Paxman and Ruston — were recently bought by MAN B&W. Several recent deals have confirmed the continuing trend towards a consolidation of resources in the realm of marine propulsion equipment. The trend, to regular followers of the industry, is hardly a new development. However, a spate of recent new deals and consummations has brought the topic to the forefront again. As reported in the June 2000 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News, the emergence of Rolls Royce as a major force in the field of marine propusion is solidified with a collection of brand name equipment suppliers. The U.K.