Oman and UK companies complete support program of British Navy frigate HMS Montrose.

According to a press release published on January 11, 2021, Duqm Naval Dockyard (DND), the Joint Venture between Babcock International and the Oman Drydock Company (ODC), has successfully completed a four week fleet time support program (FTSP) for the UK Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose.
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British Navy HMS Montrose Type 23 or Duke-class frigate. (Picture source British Navy)

The maintenance period enabled the DND team to complete essential repairs and performance improvements, ensuring an on-time on cost turnaround of HMS Montrose back to operational duties in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean.

This contract underpins Babcock’s response to the Royal Navy’s commitment to forward-deployed Task Groups. Putting greater emphasis on global partnerships and digitally enabled support solutions, Babcock’s investment with ODC to develop the DND for international navies ensures it is well placed to provide sustainable support to customers. Its regional capability in the Gulf is a key component and the success of the FTSP at Duqm demonstrates Babcock’s global support to customers.

The program incorporated repair and maintenance activities throughout the ship, with more than 250 critical elements in the scope. Extensive surveys determined a schedule of ship-wide pressure testing and maintenance, including air weapons handling systems, fire systems, and ventilation. Activities extended to the hangar, flight deck and bridge, as well as throughout living quarter areas. All had to be undertaken under strict COVID regulations applying at the dockyard.

Strategically located outside the Gulf of Arabia, DND offers customers a competitive, comprehensive facility with a full suite of modern waterside infrastructure. Its 2,800 meters of the quayside, complete with new-build workshops and specialist-manufacturing facilities, operate alongside two 480m graving docks capable of supporting Ultra Large Crude Carriers and large Warships, allowing the most complex of programs to be efficiently delivered.

Established as an Omani company in 2017, DND combines the ship repair skills and dockyard infrastructure of ODC with the naval design, engineering and programming expertise of Babcock, firmly putting our customers’ requirements at the heart of our operations.

The HMS Montrose is a Type 23 or Duke class of frigates in service with the British Navy. She was laid down in November 1989 by Yarrow Shipbuilders on the Clyde, and was launched on 31 July 1992. She was commissioned into service in June 1994.

The Type 23 or Duke-class frigate was designed to conduct anti-submarine warfare missions, but the ship is equipped with an additional vertical-launched Seawolf naval surface-to-air missile system and the Boeing Harpoon surface-to-surface missile to be used as anti-surface warfare (ASuW) ship. The ship is armed with one 32-cell Sea Wolf GWS.26 VLS canisters for able to fire Sea Wolf (range 1–10 km) or Sea Ceptor missiles (1–25+ km), two quad Harpoon launchers, two twins 12.75 in (324 mm) Sting Ray torpedo tubes, one BAE 4.5 inch Mk 8 naval gun, two 30 mm DS30M Mk2 guns, or, 2 × 30 mm DS30B guns, two Miniguns, and four General-purpose machine guns.