- إنضم
- 7 أبريل 2017
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- The South Korean-built RFA Tidespring has arrived in the United Kingdom for customisation and trials
- All four MARS tankers are expected to be in service by the end of 2018
RFA Tidespring came alongside at A&P Group's Falmouth facility on 2 April following its delivery voyage from South Korea via Japan, Hawaii, the Panama Canal, and Curaçao. Built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) at Okpo, the ship is the first of four ships procured under the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) Tanker project to replace now-retired Leaf- and Rover-class single-hull tankers.
The RFA is a government-owned, civilian-manned service that delivers the worldwide logistical and operational support required by the Royal Navy to sustain operations.
DSME, partnered with BMT Defence Services, was awarded a GBP452 million (USD562 million) contract by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in March 2012 to deliver the four 39,000-tonne-displacement Tide-class tankers. The ship design itself is a tailored adaptation of BMT's Aegir family of afloat replenishment/logistic support ships.
In January 2015 the MoD awarded an associated contract, worth approximately GBP15 million, to A&P Group for the provision of UK customisation, capability assessment trials and support (UKCCATS) for all four Tide-class tankers. Under UKCCATS A&P at Falmouth will install communications, armour and weapons, as well as overseeing a subsequent programme of military trials.
The design of the Tide-class ships has been optimised for the support of carrier operations. "The new Queen Elizabeth-class carriers will be undertaking both carrier strike and amphibious operations in the future," said Robin Boulby, MARS Tanker team leader in the MoD's Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) organisation.
http://www.janes.com/article/69312/first-mars-tanker-arrives-in-uk
