Union warns of £1bn ship order going abroad

Overseas shipyards are “eyeing up” a £1billion order for three new Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, a union claimed.

The GMB said the Government should reverse a decision to put the contract out to international tender or it risks repeating “the blue passports fiasco”. Shipbuilding companies in Germany, Italy, Holland, Poland, South Korea and Spain attended a recent Ministry of Defence industry day on the order, according to documents the union obtained under the FOI Act.

Up to 6,700 jobs could be created or secured in the UK if the order went to a domestic shipbuilder, and up to 4,700 more in the supply chain, said the GMB.