A&P Group
Encyclopedia
A&P Group Ltd is the largest ship repair and conversion company in the UK, with three shipyards located in Hebburn
, Middlesbrough
and Falmouth
. The Company undertakes a wide variety of maintenance and repair work on commercial and military ships with projects ranging from a two day alongside repair period through to multimillion UK pound conversion projects lasting for a year or more.
As one of only two remaining significant commercial ship repair companies in the United Kingdom, along with Cammell Laird
, A&P Group has become a centre of excellence for ship owners and managers operating in North West Europe and continues to grow a profitable and successful business employing over 1,000 skilled staff in the North East and South West of England.
Dock yard was used for repair while shipbuilding was concentrated at Pickersgill's Southwick Yard. The latter was modernised with the introduction of large assembly shops and prefabrication processes. This reduced costs and increased the maximum size of a vessel that the yard could build from 10,000 to 40,000 tons deadweight
.
In 1957 a consortium
of three companies led by London & Overseas Freighters
Ltd. (LOF) took over Austin & Pickersgill. In October 1968 Austin & Pickersgill took over Bartram & Sons Ltd
, whose South Dock yard was also in Sunderland. In 1970 London and Overseas Freighters bought out the other members of the consortium to take 100% ownership of Austin & Pickersgill.
In 1977 Austin & Pickersgill was nationalised
as a member company of British Shipbuilders
. In 1986 the Company was merged with Sunderland Shipbuilders Ltd to form North East Shipbuilders Ltd. However both the Southwick and the Doxford Pallion
Shipbuilding Yards closed in 1988 following negotiations with the European Commission
to reduce shipbuilding capacity in the UK
.
In 1989 the Company adopted the name A&P Appledore International to reflect the acquisition of Appledore Shipbuilders
. The Company then focused on shiprepairs rather than shipbuilding, becoming A&P Group in 1995 and being acquired by Royal Bank of Scotland
in 1997.
In 2001 the Company acquired Cammell Laird
, which at the time had yards at Birkenhead
, Teesside
and Tyneside
, but then in 2005 sold the Birkenhead
Yard to Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders
.
In 2005 A&P closed the facilities in Southampton (King George V Dock) and the four dock complexes in Wallsend near the City of Newcastle to focus all ship repair activity in the newer facilities in Hebburn (A&P Tyne), A&P Tees to support the important Southern North Sea offshore oil ad gas operations and dredging contractors and the strategically situated Falmouth operation (A&P Falmouth).
A&P maximised the competitiveness of its prefabrication process by producing ships to standard designs rather than individual specifications. From 1962 onwards the company offered standard bulk carrier
s in a range of sizes designated according to tonnage.
A&P's most numerous product was another of its standard designs, the SD14 shelter deck cargo ship. During the Second World War, shipyards in the USA had delivered more than 2,700 Liberty ship
shelter deck cargo ships. By the 1960s many Liberty ships were reaching the end of their service lives, so in 1965 A&P started to develop a low-cost shelter-deck cargo vessel to replace them.
A&P invited other UK
shipbuilders to tender for licences to produce SD14's, but by 1966 only Bartram's could meet A&P's requirement to build each ship to a selling price of £915,000. Both Bartram's and A&P built their first SD14's in 1967 and handed them to their new owners in February 1968. A&P's takeover of Bartram's followed in October.
In 1967 A&P licenced Hellenic Shipyards Co.
of Skaramangas in Greece
to build twenty SD14's. In 1971 A&P licenced Companhia Comércio e Navegação to build SD14's at Mauá in Brazil
.
In 1973 Robb Caledon Shipbuilding
of Dundee
in Scotland
contracted to build three SD14's. Astilleros y Fábricas Navales del Estado also obtained permission to build six SD14's in its yard at Ensenada in Argentina
.
By the time production ceased, 211 SD14's had been built either at A&P's Southwick and South Dock yards and or by licencees in Greece, Brazil, Scotland and Argentina. The largest volume of sales was to Greek shipowners
. The SD14 and B-series standard ship designs, and the prefabrication methods by which they were built enabled A&P to maintain a full order book until nationalisation in 1977, in contrast to many other UK shipbuilders in that era.
A&P Tyne is located at Hebburn
, Tyne and Wear
, UK
and is positioned along the River Tyne
. The facility consists of two dry docks (only one is currently in use), two quays and a large steel fabrication shed. The facility also has eight cranes lifting up to 100 tonne
s, a steel workshop, joinery workshop and engineering workshop.
The dry dock at A&P Tyne is the largest on the east coast of the UK. It is 259 metres (849.7 ft) long, 45.7 metres (149.9 ft) wide and has a depth of 5.6 metres (18.4 ft) below the datum of navigational charts
allowing it to accommodate a wide variety of ships. The two quays are Bede Quay and West Quay.
, UK
and is located on the mouth of the River Tees
. The yard has two dry docks and six cranes ranging up to forty tonnes lifting capacity. Dry dock number one is 175.4 metres (575.5 ft) long, 23.4 metres (76.8 ft) and has a depth of 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) below chart datum. Dry dock number two is 120 metres (393.7 ft) long, 18.6 metres (61 ft) wide and a has a depth below chart datum of 0.37 metres (1.2 ft). Like A&P Tyne, A&P Tees has a wide variety of workshops and fabrication sheds around the site.
, Cornwall
, UK
on the mouth of the River Fal
. The yard is located in the third largest natural deep water harbour in the world, and is the largest ship repair complex in the UK. A&P Falmouth has three large graving docks and can accommodate ships up to 100,000 DWT
.
Number two dock (Queen Elizabeth Dock) is the largest graving dock and is 252.8 metres (829.4 ft) long, 39.6 metres (129.9 ft) wide and a has depth below chart datum of 5.6 metres (18.4 ft). Dock number three is 220.98 metres (725 ft) long, 28.04 metres (92 ft) wide and a depth below chart datum of 3.2 metres (10.5 ft). Dock number four is 172.5 metres (565.9 ft) long, 26.21 metres (86 ft) wide and has a depth below chart datum of 2.9 metres (9.5 ft). There are four wharfs in the yard: County Wharf, Duchy Wharf, Queens Wharf and "South of Queens Wharf".
The yard has six cranes, with a total load capacity of 60 tonnes. It has also a steel fabrication shed, engineering workshop, electrical workshop and joinery workshop.
. The company has increased this involvement by becoming a major supplier for RFA
and RN
maintenance, repair, conversions alongside fabrication work in support of contracts for the new Bay class landing ship docks, Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier and militarised patrol craft for overseas governments.
A&P Group employ one thousand skilled craftspeople directly in shipyards around the UK and indirectly hundreds more through long term arrangements with UK based suppliers. A&P shipyards all contribute hugely to local economies in the North East and South West of England and work closely with partners in local government to maximise the potential for employment and economic growth in the areas in which the company has been operating for over 150 years.
Most recently A&P has undetaken fabrication work undertaken at the Tyne facility which produced 60% of the modules delivered for the two Bay class RFA LSD(A) ships built on the Tyne and the further delivery to BAE Systems of ship sections for the important export contracts of patrol ships for the Royal Navy of Oman
and for Trinidad and Tobago
. A&P was recently awarded contracts for the fabrication work for QEC aircraft carrier modules using the new panel line facility in Hebburn that has a capacity of in excess of 12,000 tonnes in completed steel units per year.
A&P Group is at the forefront of a major initiative that provides a whole ship maintenance approach on a long term basis for the RFA flotilla via the RFA Clusters contract that is now in the second year of operation. A partnership was created between MoD and A&P for the management of and the four Bay class ships from the RFA Cluster support base at the waterfront in A&P Falmouth. This Team is charged with day to day support of the five ships, together with planning future maintenance periods, resolution of operational defects, developing specifications for new work, oversight of maintenance periods in the UK and overseas and providing support teams to carry out complex maintenance cycles in operational locations. To date A&P has carried out fifteen major projects, eight of which were overseas close to operations and all were on time and within budget.
A&P Group has recently completed the conversion of RFA Argus to the new role of Primary Casualty Receiving Facility (PCRF) and Aviation Training Ship with an extended service life to 2020 and beyond. This major project (the largest single conversion project in RFA history) has involved A&P in every facet of the conversion procurement cycle from planning, design, specification and delivery of the conversion project in a record production phase of just eleven months.
A&P Group looks forward to an involvement on the new MARS Tanker Programme, building on experience of conversions and support to the RFA over recent years. There are also further opportunities in the expanding QEC carrier programme, in the regeneration of RN and RFA vessels for overseas Governments, and also seek to expand capabilities to provide support to the RN both ashore and afloat.
A&P Group is currently working closely with MoD Disposal Services Agency (DSA) on the refitting of former UK MoD vessels for sale to overseas navies. A&P recently completed refitting the former for the Brazilian Navy
and is now refitting two Hunt class mine countermeasures vessels for delivery to the Lithuanian Navy in 2011 in conjunction with Thales Group
.
85,000.
(MMO) following the alleged illegal dumping of toxic sediment during the development of Falmouth Marina. The MMO alleges that A&P allowed silt contaminated with the biocide
TBT
- one of the most dangerous substances ever deliberately introduced into the marine environment - to be dumped without a licence between March and December 2007, and "[failed] to declare a number of vital issues when applying for a licence in November that year, including providing an environmental impact assessment with elements it knew to be false."
In December 2010 A&P Ports and Properties Ltd ordered to pay more than £600,000 after "lying about dredging toxic sediment and dumping it in an area of outstanding natural beauty."
Hebburn
Hebburn is a small town situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in North East England, sandwiched between the towns of Jarrow and Bill Quay...
, Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
and Falmouth
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....
. The Company undertakes a wide variety of maintenance and repair work on commercial and military ships with projects ranging from a two day alongside repair period through to multimillion UK pound conversion projects lasting for a year or more.
As one of only two remaining significant commercial ship repair companies in the United Kingdom, along with Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...
, A&P Group has become a centre of excellence for ship owners and managers operating in North West Europe and continues to grow a profitable and successful business employing over 1,000 skilled staff in the North East and South West of England.
Corporate history
The A&P Group was formed in Sunderland as Austin & Pickersgill in 1954 by the merger of S.P. Austin & Son Ltd (founded c. 1826) and William Pickersgill & Sons Ltd (founded c. 1838). After the merger Austin's WearRiver Wear
The River Wear is located in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland.-Geology and history:...
Dock yard was used for repair while shipbuilding was concentrated at Pickersgill's Southwick Yard. The latter was modernised with the introduction of large assembly shops and prefabrication processes. This reduced costs and increased the maximum size of a vessel that the yard could build from 10,000 to 40,000 tons deadweight
Deadweight tonnage
Deadweight tonnage is a measure of how much weight a ship is carrying or can safely carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers, and crew...
.
In 1957 a consortium
Consortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....
of three companies led by London & Overseas Freighters
London & Overseas Freighters
London & Overseas Freighters Ltd. was an ocean-going merchant shipping company that for most of its history was based in the United Kingdom.-Counties Ship Management:...
Ltd. (LOF) took over Austin & Pickersgill. In October 1968 Austin & Pickersgill took over Bartram & Sons Ltd
Bartram & Sons Ltd
This Sunderland shipbuilding firm was founded in 1838 by George Bartram and John Lister. Their partnership was dissolved in 1852 and Bartram's son Robert Appleby Bartram was taken into the business. On his father's retirement in 1871, Robert went into partnership with George Haswell to establish...
, whose South Dock yard was also in Sunderland. In 1970 London and Overseas Freighters bought out the other members of the consortium to take 100% ownership of Austin & Pickersgill.
In 1977 Austin & Pickersgill was nationalised
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
as a member company of British Shipbuilders
British Shipbuilders
British Shipbuilders Corporation was a public corporation that owned and managed the shipbuilding industry in England and Scotland from 1977 and through the 1980s...
. In 1986 the Company was merged with Sunderland Shipbuilders Ltd to form North East Shipbuilders Ltd. However both the Southwick and the Doxford Pallion
Pallion
Pallion is a suburb, civil parish and electoral ward of the City of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England. Most of the buildings in the area were built during the Victorian Era and consist of large terraced houses built for wealthy shipbuilders, but also smaller one storey cottages in other areas...
Shipbuilding Yards closed in 1988 following negotiations with the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
to reduce shipbuilding capacity in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
In 1989 the Company adopted the name A&P Appledore International to reflect the acquisition of Appledore Shipbuilders
Appledore Shipbuilders
-History:The Appledore Yard was founded in 1855 on the estuary of the River Torridge. The Richmond Dry Dock was built in 1856 by William Yeo and named after Richmond Bay in Prince Edward Island, where the Yeo family's shipping fleet was based....
. The Company then focused on shiprepairs rather than shipbuilding, becoming A&P Group in 1995 and being acquired by Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
in 1997.
In 2001 the Company acquired Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...
, which at the time had yards at Birkenhead
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
, Teesside
Teesside
Teesside is the name given to the conurbation in the north east of England made up of the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Billingham and surrounding settlements near the River Tees. It was also the name of a local government district between 1968 and 1974—the County Borough of...
and Tyneside
Tyneside
Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...
, but then in 2005 sold the Birkenhead
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
Yard to Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders
Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders
Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders was a British shiprepair company based in Birkenhead on the River Mersey.-History:The Company was founded by John Syvret, a former Cammell Laird manager, in 2001. In 2002 50% of the business was sold to Mersey Docks & Harbour Co. in exchange for the use of...
.
In 2005 A&P closed the facilities in Southampton (King George V Dock) and the four dock complexes in Wallsend near the City of Newcastle to focus all ship repair activity in the newer facilities in Hebburn (A&P Tyne), A&P Tees to support the important Southern North Sea offshore oil ad gas operations and dredging contractors and the strategically situated Falmouth operation (A&P Falmouth).
Ship Production
Bulk carrier
A bulk carrier, bulk freighter, or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic forces have fueled the development of these ships,...
s in a range of sizes designated according to tonnage.
A&P's most numerous product was another of its standard designs, the SD14 shelter deck cargo ship. During the Second World War, shipyards in the USA had delivered more than 2,700 Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
shelter deck cargo ships. By the 1960s many Liberty ships were reaching the end of their service lives, so in 1965 A&P started to develop a low-cost shelter-deck cargo vessel to replace them.
A&P invited other UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
shipbuilders to tender for licences to produce SD14's, but by 1966 only Bartram's could meet A&P's requirement to build each ship to a selling price of £915,000. Both Bartram's and A&P built their first SD14's in 1967 and handed them to their new owners in February 1968. A&P's takeover of Bartram's followed in October.
In 1967 A&P licenced Hellenic Shipyards Co.
Hellenic Shipyards Co.
Hellenic Shipyards is a large Shipyard in Skaramangas near Athens, Greece.Its origins are connected with a shipyard created in 1937 in order to build warships...
of Skaramangas in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
to build twenty SD14's. In 1971 A&P licenced Companhia Comércio e Navegação to build SD14's at Mauá in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
In 1973 Robb Caledon Shipbuilding
Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company
The Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Limited was a British shipbuilding company based in Dundee on the east coast of Scotland.-History:...
of Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
contracted to build three SD14's. Astilleros y Fábricas Navales del Estado also obtained permission to build six SD14's in its yard at Ensenada in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
By the time production ceased, 211 SD14's had been built either at A&P's Southwick and South Dock yards and or by licencees in Greece, Brazil, Scotland and Argentina. The largest volume of sales was to Greek shipowners
Greek shipping
The Hellenic Merchant Marine refers to the Merchant Marine of Greece, engaged in commerce and transportation of goods and services universally. It consists of the merchant vessels owned by Greek civilians, flying either the Greek flag or a flag of convenience...
. The SD14 and B-series standard ship designs, and the prefabrication methods by which they were built enabled A&P to maintain a full order book until nationalisation in 1977, in contrast to many other UK shipbuilders in that era.
A&P Tyne
Hebburn
Hebburn is a small town situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in North East England, sandwiched between the towns of Jarrow and Bill Quay...
, Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and is positioned along the River Tyne
River Tyne
The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...
. The facility consists of two dry docks (only one is currently in use), two quays and a large steel fabrication shed. The facility also has eight cranes lifting up to 100 tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s, a steel workshop, joinery workshop and engineering workshop.
The dry dock at A&P Tyne is the largest on the east coast of the UK. It is 259 metres (849.7 ft) long, 45.7 metres (149.9 ft) wide and has a depth of 5.6 metres (18.4 ft) below the datum of navigational charts
Nautical chart
A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a maritime area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land , natural features of the seabed, details of the coastline, navigational hazards, locations of natural and man-made aids...
allowing it to accommodate a wide variety of ships. The two quays are Bede Quay and West Quay.
A&P Tees
A&P Tees is located in MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and is located on the mouth of the River Tees
River Tees
The River Tees is in Northern England. It rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines, and flows eastwards for 85 miles to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar.-Geography:...
. The yard has two dry docks and six cranes ranging up to forty tonnes lifting capacity. Dry dock number one is 175.4 metres (575.5 ft) long, 23.4 metres (76.8 ft) and has a depth of 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) below chart datum. Dry dock number two is 120 metres (393.7 ft) long, 18.6 metres (61 ft) wide and a has a depth below chart datum of 0.37 metres (1.2 ft). Like A&P Tyne, A&P Tees has a wide variety of workshops and fabrication sheds around the site.
A&P Falmouth
A&P Falmouth is located in FalmouthFalmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on the mouth of the River Fal
River Fal
The River Fal flows through Cornwall, United Kingdom, rising on the Goss Moor and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth. On or near the banks of the Fal are the castles of Pendennis and St Mawes as well as Trelissick Garden. The River Fal separates the Roseland peninsula from the rest of...
. The yard is located in the third largest natural deep water harbour in the world, and is the largest ship repair complex in the UK. A&P Falmouth has three large graving docks and can accommodate ships up to 100,000 DWT
Deadweight tonnage
Deadweight tonnage is a measure of how much weight a ship is carrying or can safely carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers, and crew...
.
Number two dock (Queen Elizabeth Dock) is the largest graving dock and is 252.8 metres (829.4 ft) long, 39.6 metres (129.9 ft) wide and a has depth below chart datum of 5.6 metres (18.4 ft). Dock number three is 220.98 metres (725 ft) long, 28.04 metres (92 ft) wide and a depth below chart datum of 3.2 metres (10.5 ft). Dock number four is 172.5 metres (565.9 ft) long, 26.21 metres (86 ft) wide and has a depth below chart datum of 2.9 metres (9.5 ft). There are four wharfs in the yard: County Wharf, Duchy Wharf, Queens Wharf and "South of Queens Wharf".
The yard has six cranes, with a total load capacity of 60 tonnes. It has also a steel fabrication shed, engineering workshop, electrical workshop and joinery workshop.
Naval work
For many years A&P Group has been a long term supplier to the UK Ministry of DefenceMinistry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
. The company has increased this involvement by becoming a major supplier for RFA
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a civilian-manned fleet owned by the British Ministry of Defence. The RFA enables ships of the United Kingdom Royal Navy to maintain operations around the world. Its primary role is to supply the Royal Navy with fuel, ammunition and supplies, normally by replenishment...
and RN
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
maintenance, repair, conversions alongside fabrication work in support of contracts for the new Bay class landing ship docks, Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier and militarised patrol craft for overseas governments.
A&P Group employ one thousand skilled craftspeople directly in shipyards around the UK and indirectly hundreds more through long term arrangements with UK based suppliers. A&P shipyards all contribute hugely to local economies in the North East and South West of England and work closely with partners in local government to maximise the potential for employment and economic growth in the areas in which the company has been operating for over 150 years.
Most recently A&P has undetaken fabrication work undertaken at the Tyne facility which produced 60% of the modules delivered for the two Bay class RFA LSD(A) ships built on the Tyne and the further delivery to BAE Systems of ship sections for the important export contracts of patrol ships for the Royal Navy of Oman
Royal Navy of Oman
The Royal Navy of Oman was formed in the early 1950s-Ships:* Qahir class corvettes built by Vosper Thornycroft ** Q31 Qahir Al Amwaj** Q32 Al Mua'zzar...
and for Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
. A&P was recently awarded contracts for the fabrication work for QEC aircraft carrier modules using the new panel line facility in Hebburn that has a capacity of in excess of 12,000 tonnes in completed steel units per year.
A&P Group is at the forefront of a major initiative that provides a whole ship maintenance approach on a long term basis for the RFA flotilla via the RFA Clusters contract that is now in the second year of operation. A partnership was created between MoD and A&P for the management of and the four Bay class ships from the RFA Cluster support base at the waterfront in A&P Falmouth. This Team is charged with day to day support of the five ships, together with planning future maintenance periods, resolution of operational defects, developing specifications for new work, oversight of maintenance periods in the UK and overseas and providing support teams to carry out complex maintenance cycles in operational locations. To date A&P has carried out fifteen major projects, eight of which were overseas close to operations and all were on time and within budget.
A&P Group has recently completed the conversion of RFA Argus to the new role of Primary Casualty Receiving Facility (PCRF) and Aviation Training Ship with an extended service life to 2020 and beyond. This major project (the largest single conversion project in RFA history) has involved A&P in every facet of the conversion procurement cycle from planning, design, specification and delivery of the conversion project in a record production phase of just eleven months.
A&P Group looks forward to an involvement on the new MARS Tanker Programme, building on experience of conversions and support to the RFA over recent years. There are also further opportunities in the expanding QEC carrier programme, in the regeneration of RN and RFA vessels for overseas Governments, and also seek to expand capabilities to provide support to the RN both ashore and afloat.
A&P Group is currently working closely with MoD Disposal Services Agency (DSA) on the refitting of former UK MoD vessels for sale to overseas navies. A&P recently completed refitting the former for the Brazilian Navy
Brazilian Navy
The Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America...
and is now refitting two Hunt class mine countermeasures vessels for delivery to the Lithuanian Navy in 2011 in conjunction with Thales Group
Thales Group
The Thales Group is a French electronics company delivering information systems and services for the aerospace, defense, transportation and security markets...
.
Health and safety breaches
In November 2009 A&P Falmouth pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 following the death of an employee in August 2006 from crush injuries at Falmouth Docks and was fined £Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
85,000.
Toxic waste charge
A&P Falmouth was charged under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 by the Marine Management OrganisationMarine Management Organisation
The Marine Management Organisation is an executive non-departmental public body established and given powers under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009...
(MMO) following the alleged illegal dumping of toxic sediment during the development of Falmouth Marina. The MMO alleges that A&P allowed silt contaminated with the biocide
Biocide
A biocide is a chemical substance or microorganism which can deter, render harmless, or exert a controlling effect on any harmful organism by chemical or biological means. Biocides are commonly used in medicine, agriculture, forestry, and industry...
TBT
Tributyltin
Tributyltin compounds are a group of compounds containing the 3Sn moiety, such as tributyltin hydride or tributyltin oxide. They are the main active ingredients in certain biocides used to control a broad spectrum of organisms...
- one of the most dangerous substances ever deliberately introduced into the marine environment - to be dumped without a licence between March and December 2007, and "[failed] to declare a number of vital issues when applying for a licence in November that year, including providing an environmental impact assessment with elements it knew to be false."
In December 2010 A&P Ports and Properties Ltd ordered to pay more than £600,000 after "lying about dredging toxic sediment and dumping it in an area of outstanding natural beauty."
See also
- List of shipbuilders and shipyards
Further reading
- For details of the company archives see Tyne & Wear Archives Service