BMT Defence Services Ltd today announced it has formed an alliance with Lloyd’s Register EMEA to provide the Naval Ship Assurance Support Service (NSASS) in a bid to aid the UK Ministry of Defence make huge savings.
The NSASS will support the development, implementation, and enhancement of the Naval Ship Assurance (NSA) Framework – a structured approach to the application of capability and regulatory requirements.
The NSA Framework will aid the MoD in taking a more commercial approach to naval ship acquisition and operation, ensuring overall assurance of through-life capability management. This will allow significant cost savings to be made across the UK fleet while maintaining safety, environmental and military capability.
The NSA Framework brings together the capability and regulatory requirements into one coherent approach that will assist project teams in developing their ship specifications and providing an assured product, taking account of safety, environment, operability, supportability, affordability and programme issues.
The MoD awarded the contract to BMT and Lloyd’s Register to support the Framework due to their considerable expertise in the document set subject areas. The collaboration of the two organisations delivers an in depth understanding of the challenges presented by the assurance of naval ships.
The NSASS will provide significant benefits to the MoD including:
- direct involvement of commercial and defence personnel, with experience of specification and standard development and implementation, in the generation and consolidation of the framework
- support with the alignment of non-MoD frameworks (i.e. commercial models) with bespoke MoD processes
- knowledge of key industry standards, specialist design development and capability, provided as a managed input to the NSA framework
- experienced manpower to provide framework development, implementation and specification/standards development work which continuously improves and assists the implementation of an effective NSA framework
Roger Cooper, Managing Director of BMT Defence Services said: “This contract represents a step-change in MoD practices in naval ship assurance. BMT and Lloyd’s Register EMEA are looking forward to working closely with the MoD to provide a more commercial approach to naval ship acquisition and operation while ensuring the highest standards of safety which will lead to significant cost-savings and a secure future for the UK naval fleet.”
Ian Miller, Lloyd’s Register’s UK & Ireland Naval Business Manager, says: “The NSASS brings together in one place the vast knowledge and experience of both Lloyd’s Register and BMT in the fields of the development and application of Rules and standards and in working within safety assurance and design frameworks. Lloyd’s Register’s experience in the merchant shipping sector can provide a more cost effective approach to acquisition and through-life support while maintaining appropriate standards of safety and protection of the environment.”