Babcock International Group, has signed a four year contract to deliver through life support to the Marinha do Brasil’s flagship vessel, NAM Atlantico. NAM NAM Atlantico (A140) is a landing ship and current flagship of the Brazilian Navy. The ship displaces 21,578 tonnes, is 203.43 m long and has a range of 8,000 n miles. Originally constructed in the U.K. for service with the Royal Navy as landing platform helicopter, she was commissioned on 30 September 1998 as HMS Ocean, serving until being decommissioned on 27 March 2018, and then commissioned into service with Brazil the following June. On 12 November 2020, Atlantico was redesignated multipurpose aircraft carrier (NAM) from multipurpose helicopter carrier (PHM), to reflect its capability to operate with fixed-wing medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles as well as crewed tiltrotor VTOL aircraft.
Gary Simpson, Managing Director of Marine’s Support business, said: “We are delighted to sign this contract to provide through life support to NAM Atlantico. Our innovative end-to-end support solution delivers support to equipment, system and platforms, optimising availability to ensure operational success for our customers around the globe.”
Babcock will also assist the Marinha do Brasil to develop a spares management system for the ship, deliver a range of technical training packages to personnel on-board and at the naval base, as well as developing and installing upgrades on the ship. Working hand-in-hand with their customers, Babcock will draw on this significant experience to provide the Marinha do Brasil with a support solution that will enable them to deliver international operations. An in-country team will be embedded within the Arsenal de Marinha do Rio de Janeiro, the main maintenance centre and naval base of the Brazilian Navy, to deliver this package of work, supported by a team based in the UK who will provide technical support from the wider Babcock business. Support has already commenced with an in-country presence established ahead of the first maintenance period, scheduled to begin in April 2022.
Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. This contract follows on from Babcock’s recent activity in the global maritime market which includes the first export contract for its Arrowhead 140 (AH140) frigate through a design licence agreement with PT PAL Indonesia (Persero) and being selected as the platform design provider and technology partner for Poland’s MIECZNIK (Swordfish) new frigate programme. The company has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding from its in-country base in Busan, Korea with Hyundai Heavy Industries to collaborate on the Korean CVX light aircraft carrier opportunity. Closer to the UK, the company was also recently awarded a contract to deliver the installation of a variable speed drive system for the central cooling system on board the Irish Navy’s P60 Samuel Beckett Class.
