£39m bill after leaks on aircraft carriers

THE Royal Navy has spent £39m repairing and maintaining its two giant aircraft carriers in the past year.

The costs, revealed by the Minister for defence procurement, Jeremy Quin, include repairs to HMS Prince of Wales after it suffered two leaks.

Mr Qui outlined the upkeep costs for the £3bn warships following a parliamentary question by the Shadow Minister for the Armed Forces, Stephen Morgan.

The figures revealed that £18m was spent on maintenance for HMS Queen Elizabeth, with £3.5m for repairs and £2m for engineering supervision.

The maintenance bill for the Prince of Wales was a further £11m, with £2.5m for repairs and £2m for engineering supervision.

Mr Quin’s response to the parliamentary question stated that the maintenance included work to the flight deck coatings, with repairs involving efforts to correct “operational defects”.

He added: “The costs of the repairs to HMS Prince of Wales as a result of the flooding incident in October 2020 will largely be accounted for in this calendar year.”

The Prince of Wales suffered its second leak in October which has left it in base possibly until May.

It sister ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, had to cut short sea trials in July 2019 after a seal burst causing a large quantity of water to pour from a pipe and to flood through several decks.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Navy said: “The aircraft carriers are hugely complex and investing in regular maintenance ensures that they will protect the UK and its interests for decades to come.”