UK Naval Forces’ patrol vessel HMS Forth was delivered by British multinational defence, security, and aerospace company BAE Systems with several of its existing faults, according to a Scottish newspaper.
According to the report which appeared last month in the Herald newspaper, over 100 defects were found on board of the first new Batch II River-class OPV, which was commissioned last month. Although it is usual for a new ship to undergo a period of trials after its delivery, especially if it is the first in its class; some of its defects that were identified were of unconventional kinds. Such as some flawed work on life raft davits, where bolt heads were found out to have been cut off and then glued back in place.
It was understood from an internal document which was provided to The Herald that, shipbuilder BAE Systems itself warned its own staff to improve their work. “Our reputation has seriously deteriorated on the back of recent business-wide operational performance and we all need to take action to improve this,” it was written and continued: “We need everyone in Naval Ships to consider what the barriers are to right first-time performance in your area and identify solutions that you and your team can apply.”
BAE Systems also said in a statement that it was aware of an issue with a limited number of bolt fastenings on board HMS Forth; and these did not present a risk to the mechanisms which secure the life rafts to the ship.
