Lloyd’s Register Awarded Destroyer Construction Services Contract

Lloyd’s Register has won a contract to provide classification services for the first six of the UK Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer, all to be built under survey in accordance with Lloyd’s Register’s Rules and Regulations for the Classification of Naval Ships. The contract was signed on July 2, 2003 at the prime contractor BAE Systems’ office in Filton, Bristol, UK by Martin Robinson, Head of Procurement, Combat Systems, for BAE Systems and Dave Philip, Lloyd’s Register’s Type 45 Project Manager. The vessels will be built in sections at the BAE Systems yard on Clydeside and at the new Vosper Thornycroft facilities at Portsmouth, with final assembly and launch to take place at the BAE Systems Scotstoun yard. Lloyd’s Register surveyors will work at all yards to ensure construction proceeds in accordance with the approved design. The first of the six vessels, HMS Daring, will be launched in September 2005 and delivered to the Royal Navy in September 2007. HMS Daring will be notable in that it will be the first Royal Navy front line combatant vessel to be built to the requirements of Lloyd’s Register’s Rules and Regulations for the Classification of Naval Ships. The departure from the use of naval engineering standards reflects the changes which have been made in the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) procurement practices and its pursuit of SMART acquisition policy. It is also the first major project in the world for which this approach has been applied from the concept stage. Vaughan Pomeroy, Director of Lloyd’s Register’s Naval Business, says: “Lloyd’s Register has worked on the Type 45 project throughout the design phase and has already approved the design by carrying out an independent assessment against the requirements of the Rules for the classification of naval ships. This contract for survey during construction of the initial production batch of six ships will result in the ships meeting the requirements for classification. “The adoption of Lloyd’s Register’s approach to naval ship classification by the prime contractor, BAE Systems, and the UK Ministry of Defence demonstrates that we have created a recognised set of standards for front line naval ships. This contract is highly valued by Lloyd’s Register, and we look forward to working with BAE Systems and the supply chain to ensure that these ships satisfy the expectations of the Type 45 Integrated Project Team.” The Type 45 destroyer is the most recent example of the collaboration between Lloyd’s Register and the MoD. Lloyd’s Register is also preparing to publish its updated Rules for Naval Ships in July 2003. The Rules were first published in 1999 after eight years of development with significant support from the MoD, in particular its Defence Procurement Agency’s Sea Technology Group, as well as many other British and overseas defence organisations.