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NAV Y NEWS. OCTOBER 2(103
New ship hall opened in Portsmouth
New rules for Centenary Service families starts early accommodation for RNFA
Picture: LA Phot Amanda Reynolds
NEW procedures have been introduced by the Defence Housing Executive (DHE) to makes lives easier for Service families on the move. Once notice has been received of their new draft, applicants can submit MOD Form 1132 to get their relocation started. DHE aims to process applications that are received up to four months in advance of the required date within ten working days. Ths means that families can be told of their address well in advance of their move, allowing arrangements to be made for schools and medical care much earlier than before.
As DHE does not have an abundance of empty houses awaiting allocation, the new system relies on all involved to play their parts and allow occupied properties to be pre-allocated to incomers. Outgoing occupants need to inform DHE of their intention to move within 14 days of receiving their draft. The date need not be exact, but just provide a rough estimate for planning purposes. Before leaving, a Pre-Move Out Advisory Visit should be arranged to allow the property to be assessed for necessary repair work and advice on moving. To find out more, contact your appropriate Regional office.
THE CELEBRATIONS have started early for the Royal Navy Football Association (RNFA). LEX Defence UK have provided a car for the RNFA to use to travel the country encouraging football development. Founded in 1904 the RNFA celebrate their centenary next year. • Barry Winship of LEX Defence UK hands the keys to Cdr John Renwick, vice chairman of the RNFA along with team players POPT Fraser Quirke and POETS Ann McCaffery
DEFENCE Secretary Geoff Hoon heralded "a new era for Portsmouth as well as its Naval Base" as he officially opened the new shipbuilding facility which VT Group claim is "among the most advanced naval shipbuilding yards in the world."
The £50 million scheme is expected to yield productivity improvements of up to 20 per cent through increased levels of automation in both the fabrication of component parts and in the construction process itself. VT are in the process of closing their yard at Woolston in Southampton, which should shut its gates in March. Up to 1,000 skilled personnel have relocated along the South Coast in the move. One of the first tasks for the new facility will be to build blocks of the new Type 45 destroyers for the Royal Navy, but there is still potential for expansion on the 33-acre
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One of the buildings, the Ship Assembly Hall, is 42 metres high, and where final assembly of the ship will take place, using units which have been fabricated from decks, panels and bulkheads in the adjacent Unit Construction Hall, which is ten metres lower. The project has involved extending a quay wall by seven metres, and filling in Dry Dock 13 with around 100,000 tonnes of marine dredged material to provide the floor of the Ship Assembly Hall. There is at least one dry dock on site that can be used specifically for ship outfitting. Workshops throughout the site
are linked by fibre optic cables to VT's computer aided design areas, enabling data to be sent electronically. The Steel Production Hall on site allows the cutting of 13m x 3m steel plates and the profiling of 13 metre steel bars using laser and plasma cutters. Much of the equipment is new, but a major logistics operation was mounted to transfer machinery from Woolston - including a steel plate rolling machine which is more than 100 years old. One of the benefits of the new facility is that ship sections are built on a level floor rather than an inclined slipway, and with space to expand - Phase 2 of the development should see the Ship Assembly Hall extended by a further 70 metres, and if VT get major work on the future carrier, a third shipbuilding bay of 190 metres could be built on the current Dry Dock 12, which would also be filled in. VT Shipbuilding is one of two divisions of VT Group, the other being VT Support Services. Together they employ more than 10,000 people, with turnover of around £600 million.
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site, and VT have an eye to building large blocks for the future carrier programme. There will still be capacity for the yard to handle work for overseas navies. The new yard consists of two newly-built large assembly halls, 130 metres in length, with associated workshops and ancillary buildings having been refurbished from existing property.
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