New accommodation for Caledonia carrier crew

DIO solves bed shortage at Rosyth Dockyard.

A total of 36 new bed spaces have made available to the crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first of two new Royal Navy aircraft carriers being built at Rosyth Dockyard in Scotland.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has provided the first batch of the 302 new bed spaces for naval personnel working on the carriers. Caledonia currently houses 422 suitable bed spaces. However, with the crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth set to take on hundreds more members by 2016, the new cabins will prove a necessity.

The new single-occupancy cabins are all equipped with ensuite facilities and supplied by Bunkabin, a portable accommodation unit provider.

The temporary cabins are to be used only whilst construction on the aircraft carriers continues, with DIO’s MOD Caledonia also providing site security and messing and recreational facilities for the project’s duration.

As the first sailors move in, the second phase of the accommodation scheme is well underway. A further 78 units are due to open in November and all 302 cabins will be available by February next year.

Leo O’Shea, DIO Director Service Delivery, said: “This has been a model of collaborative working demonstrating how DIO is delivering for Defence, in this case supporting the capability of our navy to defend British interests.

“It’s been a significant effort by everyone involved, the DIO Project Team, our site managers CarillionAmey, Aramark which provides the staff, and of course Bunkabin, which provided the cabins and its infrastructure partner Imtech, who all braved the Scottish elements to get this project done on time.”

DIO Head of Establishment Peter Bush said: “We looked at various options to meet the shortfall, and from cost and time perspective the best solution was to provide self-contained portable cabins. This was quicker and cheaper to set up than building units from scratch and avoided the need to rent private accommodation, which would have cost more and seen crew members widely spread out. This way they will all be living together, just as they will be on board ship.”

Capt Simon Petitt, Senior Naval Officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth said: “MOD Caledonia has and continues to offer a fantastic level of support to the first crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth since they arrived in Rosyth in 2012. Then we were ten, now we are over 200, and that number will more than double next year as we prepare for sea trials.

“The accommodation is both modern and practical, and more importantly offers a real sense of home comforts for our sailors who are looking forward to moving in and being in one location so that we are all of one company.”

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