In securing the £1.7m contract, Houlder was appointed as prime contractor by the MOD to design, manufacture, supply, install, set to work and load test two ship sets of gantry cranes for use in handling munitions to and from landing craft/hovercraft in the well dock of each 18,500 ton displacement vessel. In a move to minimise costs, the ‘new’ cranes utilise a number of refurbished gantry crane components from the aircraft carrier ‘HMS Ark Royal’.

The well dock of each LPD is designed to accommodate four 29.8m landing Craft Utility Mk 10s or two 11m hovercraft. Both ships also carry four 15.5m Landing Craft Vehicle/Personnel (LCVP) Mk5s on davits.

Working closely with Houlder on the project are the MOD’s customer, the Marine Auxiliary Systems Integrated Project Team, Sheffield based Street CraneXpress, responsible for crane design, manufacture and supply, and the Saltash operation of Imes, responsible for destruct of the old crane and load testing of the new crane.

The new 4.5 ton SWL gantry crane for each LPD is located in the stern of the 176m long vessels, above the well dock and utilising each ship’s existing long travel gantry beams. The new cranes meet the stringent requirements of the MOD Joint Service Publication 467 for the safe handling of weapons, ammunition and explosives and are understood to be the first ship-borne cranes for the MOD to do so.