Contract Over Victorian Submarines

According to www.nwemail.co.uk, BAE was allied to a Nova Scotia based company, Irving Shipbuilding, and others in a consortium which fought for the contract to maintain four Victoria class submarines during their lifetime. The subs were originally designed in Barrow and one of them was built in the yard. A year ago the big Canadian maintenance contract was set to go to a West Coast, British Columbia-based consortium, after a bidding competition. But now the challenge has resulted in the original decision to award the contract to the Canadian Submarine Management Group, based in British Columbia, being confirmed. It was thought the contract might be re-tendered, but the navy said that such a move would create an unacceptable three year delay in the submarine program, which is already years behind schedule. Irving Shipbuilding and Fleetway Inc part of a rival consortium led by BAE (Canada) Systems Inc had called for a judicial review. Their lawsuit alleged one of the companies that participated in the winning bid played a role in developing the statement of work and evaluation criteria for the contract. After the subs were delivered some BAE staff from Barrow worked in Canada on aftercare contracts