China may build tugs for UK’s nuclear base, Scottish lawmaker warns

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has contracted Dutch defence manufacturer Damen, via service provider Serco, to supply 24 support vessels—including tug boats—to His Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde, the Royal Navy’s main base in Scotland. While the contract was competitively awarded to Serco, the company has the freedom to subcontract vessel construction without UK tendering or ministry approval. Damen’s distributed shipbuilding model often involves building smaller vessels like tugs in Asian shipyards, including those in China or Vietnam, with final fitting and integration completed in Europe. This raises security concerns given the sensitive nature of the vessels’ role in moving nuclear-powered submarines within confined waters, despite tug boats not handling nuclear material directly. Scottish lawmaker Paul Sweeney criticized the arrangement as a national security risk and a blow to UK industrial sovereignty, highlighting that UK shipyards such as Ferguson Marine could have built these vessels but were excluded due to the subcontracting process. Critics argue that cost savings should