Cathelco has secured a contract to deliver equipment for the first three vessels of the British Royal Navy's new generation of City-class Type 26 frigates.
The Type 26 global combat ships will be installed with two types of systems under the deal, including one designed to protect the underwater hull surface against corrosion and the other to prevent blockages in the vessels' engine seawater cooling system pipework, which are caused by bio-fouling.
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The manufacturing phase is slated to begin in the coming weeks at BAE Systems’ shipyard in Glasgow, Scotland, while the first of the three vessels is scheduled to enter service with the Royal Navy in the 2020s.
Cathelco managing director Justin Salisbury said: “As a British company, we are delighted to be supplying equipment for the Type 26 warships, particularly as we supplied and upgraded systems on their predecessors.”
The hulls of the new frigates will be protected by the company’s impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) hull corrosion protection systems, which feature an arrangement of hull-mounted anodes and reference electrodes connected to a control panel.
The reference electrodes measure the electrical potential of the hull / sea water interface and transmit a signal to the control panel, which automatically adjusts the output to the anodes to enable the hull to receive optimum corrosion protection at all times.
Additionally, Cathelco is expected to use its marine growth prevention systems (MGPS) to protect nine sea chests on-board each frigate against blockages in their seawater cooling lines due to the growth of barnacles and mussels.
The company and its subsidiary Corrintec Marine previously provided ICCP systems for the Royal Navy’s entire fleet of current Type 23 frigates.
Image: Cathelco to supply equipment for the Royal Navy’s Type 26 frigates. Photo: courtesy of Cathelco.
