§ Mr. Gerald HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what technical difficulties have been encountered in the construction of HMS Albion; and if he will make a statement. [78660]
§ Dr. MoonieHMS Albion is the first of a new class of Landing Platform Dock vessels. She is being constructed by BAE Systems Marine Ltd at their Barrow in Furness shipyard. Technical difficulties encountered during her construction have been largely due to the use of a computer aided design tool that was new to the shipyard, immature design information being released for production, the use of modern build techniques and some novel warship design features such as the diesel/electric propulsion system. It is not unusual for technical issues to arise during the design and construction of the first of such a complex warship class and BAE Systems are working hard to overcome each of the issues. A revised programme for Albion has been agreed with BAE Systems Marine and she is expected to496W enter service in July 2003. The company is making stringent efforts to recover up to seven weeks of that slippage.