Rolls-Royce Acquires VT Controls
Rolls-Royce has acquired marine electrical systems company VT Controls Ltd for £11 million, continuing its growth strategy in the marine market. VT Controls Ltd, acquired from the VT Group, will be incorporated into the Rolls-Royce Marine Electrical Systems business set up earlier this year. The acquisition is an important addition to the new business's capability, as it ramps up to support marine projects involving major electrical systems. Based in Portsmouth, VT Controls Ltd has provided power or automation systems on all front line UK naval platforms in the last decade and is involved in current naval programmes both in the UK and abroad. The company has an impressive pedigree that stretches as far back as the early 1970s when it supplied controls for Brazil's Mk 10 frigates.
Technical: Homing in on Ships' Electrics
Power systems specialist Rolls-Royce now derives nearly $1.5 billion of total annual sales of $8.7 billion from the marine market, and an important element of its growth strategy in the marine domain is the development of its electrical capabilities, products and technology. The increasing use of electrical drives and other sub-systems, and a move towards highly automated, integrated shipboard networks, is evident in both the commercial and naval sectors, in the technology-intensive, specialized vessel categories which form the group's heartland business areas. The success of electrical power and propulsion systems in application to high capacity cruise vessels has proved to be one of the most significant technological developments in commercial shipping over the past decade and a half…
River Class Represent New Generation of Fishery Protection Ships
HMS Tyne, the first in a new generation of fishery protection vessels for the Royal Navy has been launched at Vosper Thornycroft’s Woolston, Southhampton, Shipyard. HMS Tyne was launched by Lady Squire, wife of Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Squire, Chief of the Air Staff, and is expected to be handed over to the Fishery Protection Squadron (FPS) in November this year. The 80 m. Offshore Patrol Vessel is one of three River Class ships that are being procured in an agreement that is believed to be unique in modern times. Thought to b e the first time the RN has operated ships under such an agreement with private industry and at the end of the fie years the Ministry of Defense will have the option to extend the charter, hand the ships back or purchase them outright.
First Royal Navy River Class Handed Over
Vosper Thornycroft (VT) Shipbuilding’s innovative project to build three Offshore Patrol Vessels for the Royal Navy has reached a major milestone with the acceptance of the first ship. Having successfully completed the trials program, HMS Tyne was handed over at a ceremony in Portsmouth Naval Base after making the short voyage from VT’s Woolston, Southampton, shipyard.The 264-ft. OPVs represent a unique procurement for the Royal Navy. They are believed to be the first ships built and funded by industry for charter to the Ministry of Defense. Under the agreement, VT will finance the $97M, build of the three ships and will charter them to the MoD for an initial period of five years.
