Babcock Starts Building First of Five Royal Navy Type 31 Frigates

Babcock has started construction of the first of five Royal Navy Type 31 frigates, HMS Venturer, at its Rosyth facility in the UK.

After cutting the first steel on the program in September 2021, the traditional keel-laying event formally recognized the start of the build, including placing a specially commissioned coin under the keel.  On completion of the ship, the coin will be presented to the Captain and crew. 

The ceremony was held in the new build hall, the Venturer Building, which forms part of a £60 million investment program, on top of an additional £100 million over the last ten years.

 The fully covered hall will house two frigates for uninterrupted, parallel assembly and will support increased productivity gains through improved access to the platforms and digital connectivity.

"The Type 31 program is an important part of the shipbuilding pipeline set out in the National Shipbuilding Strategy that was refreshed last month.  The strategy’s stated vision for ‘a globally successful, innovative and sustainable shipbuilding enterprise’ is being borne out in Rosyth, with the company investing in and accelerating its shipbuilding prowess and ambitions," Babcock said.

The event comes just over one month since Babcock secured its second export contract for its Arrowhead 140 frigate (the export variant of the UK Type 31 platform) with the company announced as the platform design provider and technology partner for Poland’s MIECZNIK (Swordfish) new frigate program. Babcock had previously secured a design licence agreement with PT PAL Indonesia (Persero) to enable PAL to build two Arrowhead 140 frigates in Indonesia with bespoke design modifications for the Indonesian Navy.