Synopsis - updated 28th December 2002

Stewart and Lamont Consultants (SLC) was formed in 1999 to Project Manage the Safety Case for docking Nuclear Submarines in the Naval Base Clyde Shiplift Docking Facility. Prior to SLC’s arrival on the scene dockings were authorised on a one off basis by the regulator: within six months of arrival SLC had a Safety Case in place that allowed the Director of the Naval Base Clyde (DNBC) to conduct dockings without regulatory scrutiny. The initial period of the agreement to these dockings ran from April 2000 to March 2002. This period was extended to March 2005 with an update to the Safety Case in March 2002.

Prior to operations commencing in April 2000, SLC Project Managed the installation of a £3m+ Y2k upgrade to the Shiplift’s Primary Load Monitoring System. This complex work was completed to time and cost with updated Safety Case also in place for the re-start of operations in April 2000.

During 2000 SLC led a £6m+ Periodic Safety Review that determined the work required to complete the Shiplift Safety Case. The implementation of the resulting £20m+ Staged Improvement Programme (SIP) commenced in April 2001 and is being conducted by a specially formed Clyde Shiplift Safety Case Alliance (CSSCA).

During 2002 SLC has been scoping the updates required to the Shiplift Safety Case to allow the next generation of Hunter Killer submarines (The Astute Class) to dock in the Shiplift as well as conducting peer review and quality audits for CSSCA.