Babcock International Group has laid the keel for HMS Active, the second ship in the Royal Navy’s Type 31 frigate programme, marking the beginning of the programme’s multi-ship phase, where two warships are being built simultaneously.
Guests were invited to witness the traditional shipbuilding ceremony for HMS Active, alongside Babcock employees and their families. A specially commissioned coin was placed under the keel, which will be presented to the captain and crew when the ship is ready to sail.
The youngest apprentice, Robbie Dick, was given the honour of placing the coin under the keel. Guests included members of the UK Royal Navy, UK MOD’s procurement agency Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), and representatives from Poland’s MIECZNIK frigate consortium, whose frigate programme is also based on Babcock’s Arrowhead 140 design.
Recently, the Polish frigate programme reached a milestone of its own by cutting steel for the first of three vessels, similar to the UK’s Type 31 and Indonesian Merah Putih frigate programme.
John Howie, Babcock’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and Interim CEO Marine, said:
“Type 31 is an incredibly important programme for Babcock, our Royal Navy and Ministry of Defence customer and for the wider UK Shipbuilding industry. Today we see first-hand the dedication and commitment from our team here in Rosyth, and we are hugely proud to be able to share this traditional ceremony and programme milestone for HMS Active with our customer, families and friends.”
“The success of this programme is founded on the strong relationship with our customer and the mission we jointly share, which is inspiring our teams each and every day to strive for excellence, delivering this future capability the Royal Navy needs”.
