UK Issues Refreshed National Shipbuilding Strategy

First published in 2017, the National Shipbuilding Strategy outlined ambitions to transform naval procurement, securing export and design contracts for British naval ships. Building on that success, this refresh outlines the government’s further ambitions to reinvigorate the whole British shipbuilding industry.

Over £4 billion of government investment will galvanise and support shipyards and suppliers across the UK, with new measures including better access to finance, vital skills-building, and funding for crucial research and development into greener vessels and infrastructure.

Designed in partnership with industry and delivered by the recently formed National Shipbuilding Office (NSO), the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh will also deliver a pipeline of more than 150 new naval and civil vessels for the UK Government and Devolved Administrations over the next 30 years. The vessels will include large warships, Border Force cutters, lighthouse vessels and the new National Flagship.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who was visiting a Merseyside dockyard today said:

“Shipbuilding has been in our blood for centuries and I want to ensure it remains at the heart of British industry of generations to come. The National Shipbuilding Strategy will transform this important and crucial industry, creating jobs, driving technology development and upskilling the shipbuilders of tomorrow, ensuring we are levelling up across every dock, port and shipyard in the UK. This will ensure the UK is rightly seen as a shipbuilding power across the world.”

Defence Secretary and Shipbuilding Tsar Ben Wallace said:

“As Shipbuilding Tsar, I am proud to be announcing our new strategy, this is an exciting time to be involved in the sector. With significant government investment, we will be levelling-up across our shipbuilding, workforce, from shipyard to supplier, from procurement to designer, creating tens of thousands of new employment opportunities, boosting living standards and pay. Our refreshed strategy will see the sector galvanised at a crucial time for our economy and see a vital part of British industry expand and flourish.”

The strategy refresh sets out how the UK will:

• Put in place the optimum organisational and governance structures to ensure a coherent, joined-up approach through the establishment of an empowered National Shipbuilding O􀄐ce (NSO);
• Provide clarity on future orders by setting out a 30 Year Cross-Government Shipbuilding Pipeline including the new National Flagship and the policy objectives which will underpin Government procurement programmes. We have already set out the revised MOD shipbuilding procurement policy in DSIS;
• Develop a model for a Home Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme to level the playing field for domestic shipbuilding orders, which will complement the working capital and buyer credits provided by UK Export Finance (UKEF);
• Enable the commercialisation of critical shipbuilding technologies, particularly green technology by investing £206 million to establish a UK Shipping O􀄐ce for Reducing Emissions (UK-SHORE) in DfT;
• Support the shipbuilding sector to develop new technologies, including manufacturing and production technologies through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Innovate UK programmes;
• Proactively pursue export opportunities through a coordinated approach with Government and industry, underpinned by the Maritime Capability Campaign O􀄐ce (MCCO) within the Department for International Trade (DIT) which will act as the exports arm of the NSO; and
• Work with industry to better understand the demand and supply of skills by creating a UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce reporting into the NSO.

The document also outlines the future Royal Navy programs for the next 30 years:

The Refresh to the National Shipbuilding Strategy document can be read at this link.