Andrew Weir Shipping (AWS) has received a contract to provide support and maintenance services to the UK Royal Navy’s ice patrol ship, HMS Protector (A173).
Work under the contract, to be carried out in collaboration with the UK Ministry of Defence, involves the planning and supervision of refurbishment periods, and the purchase and supply of spare parts and consumable stores.
In addition to assuring the availability of the vessel for operational deployment, AWS will perform design modifications and if necessary support emergency response situations together with Steller Systems, which offers emergency naval architecture support.
AWS managing director Steve Corkhill said: "Andrew Weir Shipping is proud to announce the successful bid to provide our services to the Ministry of Defence."
Deployed on operations for 334 days a year, the 5,000t HMS Protector was leased from Norwegian firm GC Rieber Shipping for three years by the Royal Navy in April 2011, and then purchased in September 2013.
Integrating the required tools for patrol, survey and humanitarian missions, the vessel has been supporting the Royal Navy’s Antarctic task, as well as the hydrographic and oceanographic work. It has also helped enforce the pact to protect the Antarctic environment from exploitation.
The vessel is equipped with Lockheed Martin’s warship electronic-chart display and information system (WECDIS), which offers reduced navigator workload, while improving situational and tactical awareness for the vessel’s crew with an integrated electronic navigation picture.
Image: The UK Royal Navy’s ice patrol ship, HMS Protector (A173). Photo: courtesy of Andrew Weir Shipping.
