LONDON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Britain's Babcock International has completed in-dock maintenance and upgrades on the British navy's largest ship -- the HMS Ocean.
The undocking Wednesday of the amphibious assault ship HMS Ocean came half way through a 15-month upgrade and overhaul program that includes more than 60 upgrades, mechanical improvements and maintenance.
In-dock work involved overhaul of all the ship's underwater valves, application of the outer bottom foul release paint coating, survey and re-preservation of tanks, repair of several sea tubes and maintenance on the ship's main propulsion system, propellers, shafts, rudders and stabilizers.
"This is a highly complex and challenging project both technically and in terms of project management, and we are delighted to have met this significant undocking milestone on schedule, thanks to hard work by all parties," said Babcock Warship Support Managing Director Mike Whalley.
"There is still considerable work to be done, and the team will now focus on continuing to maintain this strong progress through the rest of the project, to deliver HMS Ocean safely, on-time, fully refurbished with improved capability and performance, at optimum value for money."
Work still to be performed on the vessel includes improvements to the living quarters of the ship's crew and embarked military forces, enhancement of the ship's fire detection system and commissioning the main propulsion and auxiliary systems and work on aircraft lifts and weapons equipment.
HMS Ocean is expected to start sea trials early next year.
