Rochdale company wins Royal Navy contract

Reporter: Jan Harwood
Date online: 07/07/2008

A Rochdale company will contribute components to the two biggest aircraft carriers the Royal Navy has ever produced.

Salt Separation Services has secured a £1.3million deal with BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions to build water production systems for two new ships.

The 65,000-tonne carriers will carry crews of 1,500 and up to 40 aircraft and will enter service in 2014 and 2016.

Work on the ships, named HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, will create or sustain 10,000 jobs nationwide according to the Ministry of Defence.

They will be the second largest ships of their kind in the world, both are roughly the same size as the QE2.