A committee report involving a number of ministries, authorities, and industry representatives titled Det Nationale Partnerskab for det maritime område (The National Partnership for the naval field) was presented last week outlining the goals and actions needed to see a return to naval shipbuilding in the country.
The key feature is that the Royal Danish Navy needs to formulate a long-term strategic plan stretching 20 to 25 years into the future. As security of supply is seen as a key issue, the plan is to ensure that the vessels are built domestically, taking place under the EU exception to fair competition allowed for under TEUF art. 346. A need for 15 larger – frigates and offshore patrol vessels – and 40 lighter units during the twenty-year period is identified.
A characteristic detail of the plan is that as opposed to the current situation the plan would be to sell the vessels after 15 to 20 years to make room for new vessels and avoid the maintenance intensive last years of service. The report calls for identifying potential countries which could be interested in buying older vessels, countries which Denmark would be interested in strategic cooperation with. Under the current situation, the export of older vessels has largely been an ad hoc affair, based on which vessels become surplus to naval requirements and the opportunistic appearance of willing buyers to these. The committee wants to reform, with a dedicated national organ that supports these export drives and better planning to facilitate them.
The report notes that the shipbuilding industry in Denmark does not have facilities to build large steel hulls, and the vast majority of work at the domestic shipyards currently concerns refit and repair. In light of this, three different options are identified when it comes to the way forward. One is to place orders at existing yards to incentivise the development of the needed capability to produce modern warships on imported hulls, taking the place of current refit work. Another alternative is to also establish the ability to build large steel hulls in-country, while the most ambitious alternative is a government or privately-owned modern warship factory, allowing the current shipyards to keep doing repair and refit work. The committee does not take a stance on what is the preferred option but instead notes that all alternatives come with their own set of pros and cons.
A key issue which is afforded much room in the report is the question of a competent workforce in Denmark, in particular in view of the planned growth. This includes discussions about the professional training pipelines for the required workforce, but also e.g. requirements to speed up the process for getting security clearance for industry personnel.
