Navy buys Korean to keep its ships fuelled: £452m contract for four tankers goes to the Far East

The Daily Mail ^ | 23rd February 2012 | Ian Drury

[sukhoi-30mki]

Navy buys Korean to keep its ships fuelled: £452m contract for four tankers goes to the Far East

By Ian Drury

Defence Minister Peter Luff announced yesterday that a £452million contract for the support tankers had been awarded to Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering. Critics said the decision was a blow to Britain’s declining shipbuilding industry and to the proud naval tradition of what was once the world’s greatest seafaring nation.

They also accused the Government of ‘shameless hypocrisy’ after David Cameron criticised India earlier this month for snubbing British industry when it awarded a £13billion deal to supply 126 fighter jets to France.

At the time, sources said India had chosen ‘cheap and cheerful’ warplanes over quality British-built Eurofighter Typhoons.

The tankers that are being bought ‘off-the-shelf’ from South Korea will maintain the Navy’s ability to refuel warships at sea and will provide support for amphibious and land forces close to shore.

Labour defence spokesman Jim Murphy said: ‘This is more bad news for British industry. ‘First we lose out to France over fast jets and now we lose out to South Korea over Royal Navy tankers. The country wants the Government to do more to support British industry. I’d like to see more of our defence industry with a “Made in Britain” stamp on it.’

Shipbuilding unions said the decision to buy vessels from the Far East ‘beggared belief’ and put at risk UK jobs and skills.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2105100/Navy-buys-Korean-ships-fuelled--452m-contract-tankers-goes-Far-East.html#ixzz1nDXEzXxS

[sukhoi-30mki]

Made in Korea: How the new tanker will look. Several British companies expressed an interest in building the tankers but none submitted a final bid

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2105100/Navy-buys-Korean-ships-fuelled--452m-contract-tankers-goes-Far-East.html#ixzz1nDXp0keO

[joe fonebone]

Well, ya can’t get a job if ya don’t bid a job.....

[Strategerist]

The South Koreans can build commercial ships SO much more cheaply than the British (or us, for that matter) it’s beyond belief.

[GonzoGOP]

When they stopped building them at Clydebank, you knew the great British Empire is truly gone forever. This is just the last chapter of a book written years ago.

[az_gila]

From the heyday, a 1950 picture... The Ark Royal being built at Cammell Lairds on the River Mersey just across from Liverpool.