GOVAN shipyard is to be upgraded with a new indoor shipbuilding hall planned for the site.

BAE Systems is planning to fill in the west basin to the west of the ship block and outfitting hall to create the space to build the new facility.

It will allow ships, including the remainder of the Type 26 Frigates, to be built indoors.

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The shipyard owners had previously planned to extend the current facility back from the river towards Govan Road on the yard site, but that meant demolition of a listed building on the site.

BAE said it has since revised those plans and the best option now is to use the wet basin and fill it in to create a concrete stand to build the new indoor hall.

It will, the firm believes, create a better working environment for the staff and allow the use of quicker more modern technology in the future.

It is hoped the new facility will make the yard better placed to compete for future orders to secure shipbuilding in the city for even longer.

The new plan also means that because the wet basin is an area of the site not in use, it can be constructed with minimal disruption to the yard’s operations.

BAE has given a notice of application to signal their intention to change the plans.

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Previously BAE Systems had plans for a £100m state of the art ‘frigate factory’ at Scotstoun on the other side of the river but it was shelved.

Paul Sweeney, Glasgow Labour MSP, and former BAE shipyard employee, said the revised plan will improve the city’s shipbuilding capability.

He said: “Constructing ships outdoors in Glasgow brings with it major drawbacks, most obviously due to adverse weather, so BAE’s ambitious plan to construct a fully indoor ship assembly hall over the wet basin at Govan shipyard heralds a dramatic improvement for shipbuilding infrastructure in the city.

“After the disappointing cancellation of the planned ‘frigate factory’ at Scotstoun shipyard in 2015, this revised proposal for a ship assembly hall at Govan is very welcome indeed.

Glasgow Times:

“This new hall will probably become the largest building by enclosed volume in Glasgow, if not Scotland and will make a dramatic impact on the Clydeside skyline.

“I hope that the competitive advantages it brings will help to reassert Glasgow’s global reputation for having shipbuilding capabilities that are of the highest quality.”

He added that he hopes it will be completed in time for the fourth ship in the frigate contract.

HMS Glasgow is currently being built at the yard just now.