By Geoff Tompson
SCOTLAND has a proud shipbuilding heritage but does it have a shipbuilding future? With the second Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier about to be delivered, Rosyth will fall silent by the end of this Summer. The UKMoD finally ordered three Type 26 frigates from the BAE Systems Upper Clyde yards but there is no meaningful commitment to order more and the company has now teamed with Cammell Laird on Merseyside to bid for the new Type 31e frigates formerly promised to the Clyde. A competing bid led by Babcock would result in more work for Rosyth but the possibility of jam tomorrow won’t sustain jobs pending a contract award.