New home for HMS Prince of Wales nearly complete

The UK Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) is working with its contractor Volker Stevin to deliver the final elements of the infrastructure required to welcome the Royal Navy’s second Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier to its new base in Portsmouth, ahead of its expected arrival at the end of 2019. 

This effort is being carried out under a £30 million contract, which has included the installation of two fendered space units (FSU) ahead of the arrival of HMS Prince of Wales, identical to the ones introduced for the first carrier example, HMS Queen Elizabeth.

However, rather than purchase these from overseas, Portsmouth-based ML (UK) constructed the units, which slot into the jetty and move up and down with the tide to prevent the ship’s overhanging flight deck from colliding with the jetty.

The FSUs took 11 months to build and have now been put into position at Victory Jetty at the base.

‘It’s fantastic to see the finishing touches being put to this important project which has made improvements to the existing Victory and Sheer jetties, so they can support the 65,000-tonne new carrier,’ Colin Efford, DIO’s project manager, said.

‘We are pleased to be working with Volker Stevin and ML (UK) and to support a local company through the supply chain.’

As well as providing the FSUs, the project has involved refurbishing Victory Jetty to extend its life for more than 50 years, the construction of a new mooring dolphin, the installation of a galvanic cathodic protection system, and the provision of a second high voltage electrical system which feeds the carrier through a new hydraulic boom.