Babcock International has commenced major regeneration works at its Devonport facility in Plymouth, to meet the future requirements of the UK Royal Navy (RAN).
The work includes demolition of existing blocks around the Dock 10 site of the facility.
Babcock is leading the regeneration work in collaboration with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and delivery partners Costain, Mott MacDonald and Mace.
The refit work is the first stage of a multi-year development programme for Devonport.
The MoD has awarded $170m (£140m) initial contracts since 2020 for infrastructure improvements works to support the RN’s Astute-class submarine, which will replace Trafalgar-class submarine.
Co-located with RN’s HM Naval Base Devonport, the company’s Devonport facility is also expected to create new jobs under the new work.
Babcock nuclear chief executive Dominic Kieran said: “These projects will secure the site’s long-term future, readying our operations infrastructure for decades to come to support the delivery of critical national defence outputs, while providing around 200 new roles and supply chain opportunities in the region.”
The company has also started preparing for an extensive outage project on the Dock 9. It will be managed by a Bechtel and Cavendish Nuclear programme delivery team.
The team will provide life extension, maintenance and facility improvements to the dock for supporting the RN’s Vanguard-class submarines.
Meanwhile, Babcock’s Australasia subsidiary Naval Ship Management (NSM) and Atlantic & Peninsula (A&P) Australia have signed an agreement to collaborate on naval ship sustainment projects on Australia’s east coast.
The agreement was signed during a maritime conference, Indo-Pacific 2022, in Sydney.
Under the new agreement, the two companies will collaborate to deliver plans for sustaining the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) warships.
Currently, NSM is responsible for the sustainment of two of the RAN’s landing helicopter docks, HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Canberra.
Besides, A&P Australia is working on the in-service support and sustainment contract for RAN’s HMAS Choules.
