River Clyde News

BAE Systems announced construction has begun on a new Applied Shipbuilding Academy at its Scotstoun shipyard on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow, as the company bolsters its efforts to develop future talent.Designed to support the development of the entire workforce, from apprentices to senior leaders, the Academy will comprise of a Modern Trade Hall and a Flexible Learning Hub. It will also serve to upskill the existing workforce while attracting new talent.A historic industrial building will be retrofitted to become the Modern Trade Hall…

The Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) announced that Mark Heward has joined its team as Director. Heward came aboard with MITAGS in October 2022, after retiring from a 22-year active service career in the Royal Navy.“We are thrilled to welcome Mark Heward aboard as the Director of MITAGS. Mark’s underway time, leadership, management and training experience together with being fully STCW qualified and his continuing education experience are a rare combination,” said Eric Friend, MITAGS Executive Director.

The Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) said Friday that Mark Heward had joined as Director of MITAGS.Heward came aboard with MITAGS in October 2022, after retiring from a 22-year active service career in the Royal Navy.Eric Friend, MITAGS Executive Director, said: "We are thrilled to welcome Heward Heward aboard as the Director of MITAGS. Mark’s underway time, leadership, management, and training experience, together with being fully STCW qualified…

After a program of vital welding work, the Scottish Maritime Museum is on track to complete essential repairs to what is believed to be the oldest floating Clyde-built ship in time for the vessel’s 150th anniversary this Summer.The Scottish Maritime Museum raised £40,000 for much-needed repairs to the 1872 MV Kyles, one of Britain’s most important historic vessels and a rare and nationally important survivor from a key period in Glasgow shipbuilding, through a Keep the Kyles Afloat Crowdfunder campaign last year.The Museum’s technical team…

The aft block of the first City Class Type 26 frigate being built for the British Royal Navy has been rolled out of the build hall to join the forward block at BAE Systems' shipyard on the River Clyde.Teams at the Govan shipyard prepared and completed a series of complex maneuvers to bring the aft block out of the HMS Glasgow block and outfit hall and into position to meet the forward block.The aft block contains the versatile mission bay and hangar which is capable of supporting helicopters…

Stream Marine Training has boosted its management team as Katy Womersley, former General Manager of Clyde Marine Training, moves over the River Clyde where she takes up the role of Operations Director at Stream Marine Careers.Womersley brings her extensive experience in the maritime industry where, as a former seafarer, she began her career as a deck cadet before qualifying and working in the offshore and short sea trade. Upon moving ashore Katy Womersley was initially responsible for the delivery…

Clyde Training Solutions (CTS) opened central Scotland’s first dedicated marine and offshore international training centre. CTS – a newly established Clyde Group company -  is now offering an extensive range of onsite accredited maritime safety courses to an international market at its new complex on the banks of the River Clyde in Clydebank. Phase one of operations at the centre has created in the region of 30 jobs with potential operational growth likely to create future employment. The centre offers multiple classrooms, dedicated deep-water pool, HUET (Helicopter Underwater Escape Training module), and full fire training ground complete with training stack and helideck, all within easy reach of Glasgow Airport and Glasgow city centre.

Restoration work has started on iconic steamship TS Queen Mary, which is in the process of being transformed into one of the U.K.’s largest interactive maritime exhibits. Regarded as the vanguard of 1930s Scottish engineering, Queen Mary was built in 1933 and is the last of its class in the world. Now the 252-foot vessel is set to become a visitor attraction which will make a major social contribution to the City of Glasgow. As part of the vessel’s transformation, specialist coatings supplied by AkzoNobel’s International brand are being applied to the ship at dry dock in Greenock.

he first ever UK domestic dual-fuelled new build vessels will feature fully integrated Wärtsilä propulsion machinery packages. Wärtsilä will also supply extended engineering and site support services. The two ships, both 102 metre long ro-ro passenger ferries, are being built for Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) based in Port Glasgow, Scotland. The contracts with Wärtsilä were recorded in December 2015. Besides being the first dual-fuel vessels for CMAL, they are also the first ever dual-fuel ships to be built in the UK. These will be built by Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd. The yard is located on the River Clyde in Glasgow. "This project highlights the fact that high-end, technologically advanced commercial shipbuilding is again present in Scotland.

Scotland-based Ferguson Marine Engineering (FMEL) has signed a deal to build two 100-meter, dual-fuel ferries for Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) in a contract worth £97 million (USD 150 million) that will boost shipbuilding on the River Clyde and secure 150 shipyard jobs. Back in August, the government of Scotland named the rejuvenated Scottish yard  as the preferred tenderer for the contract to build the two ferries for the state-backed ferry operator, Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac). FMEL Port Glasgow will design and build the new vessels, testing and equipping them for delivery in 2018. The shipyard has already delivered two hybrid ferries to CMAL and will launch a third in December.

The fully integrated platform management system Servowatch designed and built for three new offshore patrol vessels for the U.K. Royal Navy has completed BAE Systems’ Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT). Servowatch, the supplier of advanced integrated ship control systems, will now integrate the IPMS package at BAE Systems’ shipyard on the River Clyde, Glasgow, Scotland, where the next-generation OPVs are currently under construction. The Servowatch scope of supply includes a fully integrated control and management system for the vessels’ propulsion…

Scottish minister Nicola Sturgeon have named Ferguson shipyard as the preferred bidder for a £97 million contract for the biggest new ferries on the Clyde since 2001 in a deal that could secure more than 150 jobs. The move will provide boost for shipbuilding in the civilian shipyard on the River Clyde Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited (FMEL) and the local economy around a year after the owners of the shipyard went into administration. Ferguson was taken over by Clyde Blowers billionaire and former Scottish independence supporter Jim McColl last year. The two new ships will both be approximately 330ft long and capable of 16 knots with space for 127 cars or 16 HGV’s or a combination of both and up to 1000 passengers.

The Royal Navy’s submarine base at Faslane – home to Britain’s nuclear deterrent – is to receive a more than 500 million pounds investment grant from the Government, reports Reuters. Chancellor George Osborne says this move will safeguard 6,700 jobs at the Scottish site and create thousands more. Faslane would be the base for the new submarines. The Faslane naval base on the River Clyde, east of Glasgow, is home to the fleet of four Vanguard-class submarines, one of which is on patrol at all times, that form Britain's 'Trident' nuclear deterrent. The money will be spent on "ship lifts, sea walls, jetties and other major projects" and that work will start in 2017, the government said in a statement.

Fergus Campbell recently took the top spot at Imtech Marine USA. He discusses the path forward, particularly the desire to expand the ubiquitous Radio Holland brand. How did you come to a career in the maritime industry? There were a number of factors that led me to this career. Growing up in a small seaport town along the banks of the River Clyde, I remember from a young age being captivated by the variety of ships sailing by and wondering what it would be like to work on them.

A port operator has today (Monday 29 September) pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches, following the deaths of three crew members of a tug which capsized on the River Clyde in 2007. Clydeport Operations Ltd, who were sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh, received fines totalling £650,000. In December 2007 the Flying Phantom was one of three tugs assisting the 70,000-tonne cargo ship Red Jasmine as it made its way along the River Clyde. As they approached the Erskine Bridge, the Flying Phantom was secured to the bow of the Red Jasmine, which was transporting animal feed. Just before 6pm, in thick fog, the Flying Phantom called the ship to say they had grounded and the pilot instructed the tug to let go the line. That was the last communication.

BAE Systems informed that a huge section of the U.K. Royal Navy’s second Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, was loaded onto a barge in Glasgow over the weekend ahead of its departure to Rosyth later this month. The 8,000-metric-ton mid hull section called Lower Block 03 (LB03) is larger than an entire Type 45 destroyer and contains 160 cabins, machinery space, a portion of the aircraft hangar and even a bakery. Over the weekend it was maneuvered out of the BAE Systems ship build hall where it was constructed and onto a barge alongside on the River Clyde.

Showy entertainment venues, museums and new housing blocks have replaced many of the shipyards that once lined Glasgow's River Clyde. Long gone are the days when the area was an industrial powerhouse producing around a fifth of the world's ships - now Scotland's largest city promotes itself instead as a financial and commercial hub, soon to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games. But although billions of pounds of investment have given Glasgow a shining new waterfront and growth in sectors like financial services…

'HMS Duncan', the sixth and last of the Royal Navy's new-generation Type 45 destroyers, has been formally commissioned into the fleet. Hundreds of guests, including families of the 190-strong ship’s company, attended the ceremony marking the ship’s transition into front line service. Principal guests at the commissioning ceremony included Lady Marie Ibbotson – the ship’s sponsor who launched the vessel at BAE Systems ’ Govan shipyard on the River Clyde in October 2010 – and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir George Zambellas.

A ferry operator escapes prosecution after a vessel flooded when its bow ramp was left open as it crossed Scotland's  River Clyde. The potential disaster happened as the Clydelink-operated Renfrew ferry was crossing the river between Renfrew and Yoker in Glasgow with its bow access door ramp open, reports 'The Scotsman'. Those on board were forced to scramble to the far end of the boat or jump on to seats after it started taking in water. The incident, which involved the Island Trader on a Sunday afternoon service in June 2011…

HMS Daring, the first of the Royal Navy's $10 billion fleet of six Type 45 Destroyers, was launched into the River Clyde in Glasgow on February 1. Weighing 7,350 tons, Daring's launch - on time and within budget - is seen as a symbol of rebirth in the Clydeside shipbuilding yards which faced devastation six years ago. Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, launched Daring at a ceremony at the shipyard in Scotstoun which was also attended by the Defense Secretary, John Reid. HMS Daring slid into the water and was maneuvered into place by three tugs, who guided her a few hundred yards down river to a dry dock where the finishing touches will be carried out, including the fitting of her guns.

Offshore Marine Support’s marine survey vessel, the Mabel Alice, has a long and distinguished track record spanning more than 30 years which, as skipper, Andy Iannetta explains, has been made possible thanks to the durability and performance of its original Cat 3408 engines, supplied by Finning Power Systems (Finning). "Mabel Alice was built as an RNLI vessel and served as the replacement for the ill-fated Solomon Browne, which tragically lost all of its crew during the Penlee lifeboat disaster in Cornwall in December 1981.

The BBC reported that a passenger ferry on the River Clyde was caught up in an international war exercise. Operation Neptune Warrior, a training exercise for Nato warships, is taking place off the west coast of Scotland. A threat by the U.S. Navy to fire on unidentified ships was transmitted to the Kilcreggan to Gourock ferry as it crossed a ship's path. A spokesman for HM Naval Base Clyde said the ferry was in no danger and an investigation is under way. The MV Kenilworth was making its regular 10-minute crossing at about 0940 BST on Monday when the incident happened. The ship was leaving Faslane naval base for the two-week exercise. It is understood it mistakenly broadcast a warning on VHF Channel 16, the international calling and distress frequency, instead of on an exercise frequency.

According to reports, the HMS Daring, has departed from BAE Systems’ shipyard in Scotstoun on its maiden voyage down the River Clyde to begin sea trials off the west coast of Scotland. Launched by HRH the Countess of Wessex in February 2006, HMS Daring is the first of six Daring class Type 45 destroyers being built for the Royal Navy. They will provide the British fleet and her allies with an unparalleled level of anti-air warfare capability through to the middle of the 21st century and will be the most capable warships of their type ever built. Ig will be put through her paces by BAE Systems engineers and Royal Navy personnel, who will eventually form her permanent crew once she enters service in 2009. Source: Maktoob