Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the status is of each ship in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary fleet.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The information requested is as follows and is accurate as of 12 February 2024. ‘Available’ is defined as ships not undergoing deep maintenance or preparing to undergo deep maintenance.
Class | Not Available | Available | Total |
RFA Tide Class Tanker | 2 | 2 | 4 |
RFA Wave Class Tanker | 2 | 0 | 2 |
RFA Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary) | 0 | 3 | 3 |
RFA Primary Casualty Reception Facility | 0 | 1 | 1 |
RFA Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment | 1 | 0 | 1 |
RFA Offshore Support Vessel | 1 | 1 | 2 |
The normal operating cycle of every ship involves them entering different readiness levels depending on their programmes, periods of refit and Departmental planning requirements. To maintain operational security, these figures cannot be broken down into any further level of detail, however, I can confirm that these figures do include the new RFA Offshore Support Vessel class.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of Operation Prosperity Guardian.
Answered by James Heappey
Due to the ongoing nature of Operation Prosperity Guardian and for reasons of operational security it would be inappropriate to release detailed costings at this time.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of replacing HMS Diamond with HMS Richmond in the Red Sea on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s capacity.
Answered by James Heappey
HMS Richmond has now taken on the role of safeguarding shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden alongside other Royal Navy, UK & NATO Partners, as part of the UK's enduring commitment to ensuring Freedom of Navigation and maintaining security of global shipping lanes.
The Royal Navy and Royal Feet Auxiliary continue to meet all of their operational commitments at home and abroad, and we will continue to ensure we have the workforce, support arrangements and facilities required to maintain availability in the future.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civilian seafarer ratings have been trained by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in each year since 2016.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Between 2016 and 2023, 706 seafarers were trained by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), and there are no RFA seafarers currently serving on Operation Prosperity Guardian.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Fleet Auxiliary seafarers have been deployed in Operation Prosperity Guardian.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Between 2016 and 2023, 706 seafarers were trained by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), and there are no RFA seafarers currently serving on Operation Prosperity Guardian.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of employment rights of seafarers in the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) strives to protect and support all of its seafarers. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) team of 1,700 are employed and administered in accordance with MOD Civil Service parameters, regularly expertly reviewed and subject to independent scrutiny. In addition, the RFA are proactively modernising their suite of policies to exceed the standards of the new Seafarer's Charter.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s total annual expenditure was on vessel maintenance, including unscheduled work in each year since 2010.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The table below sets out the total annual expenditure, by financial year, of vessel maintenance/refits including unscheduled repair costs to Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels between 2010 and 2022.
Financial Year | Repair costs (including unscheduled repairs) (£million) | Refit cost (£million) |
2010-11 | 1.829 | 38.717 |
2011-12 | 1.283 | 18.853 |
2012-13 | 1.770 | 75.459 |
2013-14 | 2.055 | 80.820 |
2014-15 | 12.994 | 88.887 |
2015-16 | 7.617 | 59.941 |
2016-17 | 8.704 | 24.229 |
2017-18 | 8.350 | 81.379 |
2018-19 | 4.830 | 49.609 |
2019-20 | 7.543 | 64.570 |
2020-21 | 9.760 | 60.513 |
2021-22 | 11.924 | 68.602 |
A breakdown of repair costs into those that were scheduled and unscheduled could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Royal Fleet Auxiliary managed vessels are presently maintained under the Future In-Service Support (FISS) agreement. These contracts were signed in 2018, have a duration of 10 years, are worth approximately £1.1 billion and are expected to deliver around £115 million of savings. Prior to the signature of the FISS agreement, RFA managed vessels were managed under a set of five In-Service Support contracts. These contracts were awarded in 2008 and renewed in 2012 for a further five-year period at an additional cost of £349 million.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the sea-going status is of Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels; and which of those ships are (a) operationally available, (b) undergoing maintenance or a refit and (c) temporarily unavailable due to mechanical problems.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The information requested is as follows and is accurate as of 3 May 2023. ‘Available’ is defined as ships not undergoing deep maintenance.
Class | Not Available | Available | Total |
RFA Tide Class Tanker | 1 | 3 | 4 |
RFA Wave Class Tanker | 2 | 0 | 2 |
RFA Landing Ship Docks | 0 | 3 | 3 |
RFA Amphibious Support Ship | 0 | 1 | 1 |
RFA Fort Class Multi-Purpose Auxiliary | 0 | 1 | 1 |
The normal operating cycle of every ship involves them entering different readiness levels depending on their programmes, periods of refit and Departmental planning requirements. To maintain operational security, these figures cannot be broken down into any further level of detail.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) duration and (b) value of vessel maintenance contracts were signed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in each year since 2010.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The table below sets out the total annual expenditure, by financial year, of vessel maintenance/refits including unscheduled repair costs to Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels between 2010 and 2022.
Financial Year | Repair costs (including unscheduled repairs) (£million) | Refit cost (£million) |
2010-11 | 1.829 | 38.717 |
2011-12 | 1.283 | 18.853 |
2012-13 | 1.770 | 75.459 |
2013-14 | 2.055 | 80.820 |
2014-15 | 12.994 | 88.887 |
2015-16 | 7.617 | 59.941 |
2016-17 | 8.704 | 24.229 |
2017-18 | 8.350 | 81.379 |
2018-19 | 4.830 | 49.609 |
2019-20 | 7.543 | 64.570 |
2020-21 | 9.760 | 60.513 |
2021-22 | 11.924 | 68.602 |
A breakdown of repair costs into those that were scheduled and unscheduled could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Royal Fleet Auxiliary managed vessels are presently maintained under the Future In-Service Support (FISS) agreement. These contracts were signed in 2018, have a duration of 10 years, are worth approximately £1.1 billion and are expected to deliver around £115 million of savings. Prior to the signature of the FISS agreement, RFA managed vessels were managed under a set of five In-Service Support contracts. These contracts were awarded in 2008 and renewed in 2012 for a further five-year period at an additional cost of £349 million.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what date his Department opened formal negotiations with Topaz Marine over the purchase of MV Topaz Tangaroa; and if he will list the other vessels considered for carrying out the subsea security function.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Extensive market engagement and analysis was conducted to determine the suitability of available vessels to meet the requirements of the Ministry of Defence. It was concluded that the MV Topaz Tangaroa was the only ship capable of fully meeting those requirements. Following this determination, an invitation to negotiate was issued to the owner of the MV Topaz Tangaroa on 5 August 2022. I am unable to provide details of the other vessels considered as to do so could be prejudicial to the commercial interests of third parties.