Fabrication

Balaena Tyne engineers and fabricators spent over 175,000 man-hours producing the 899-tonne steel stern (Block 10) for the RSS Sir David Attenborough.
The structure, weighing as much as 71 London double-decker buses and measuring over 23 metres long by 24 metres wide, forms part of the UK Government’s flagship polar research vessel.
Commissioned by NERC, built by Balaena Birkenhead, designed by Rolls-Royce, and operated by the British Antarctic Survey, the ship supports frontier science missions.

A successful collaboration between Balaena Gibraltar and Gib Oil to fabricate and deliver new oil storage tanks for Gibraltar’s energy infrastructure. The project involved full in-house steel fabrication, precision welding, and quality-controlled assembly, ensuring each tank met strict safety, durability, and operational standards. From initial steelwork through to final installation, the work highlights Balaena Gibraltar’s capabilities in heavy industrial fabrication and its commitment to reliable, high-quality engineering solutions.

Balaena has supported some of the UK’s most significant naval programmes, including fabrication work associated with the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers. Through large-scale modular construction, complex steel fabrication, and advanced engineering capability, Balaena facilities have contributed to the delivery of blocks and major structures for one of the largest and most advanced warship programmes ever undertaken in Britain. This experience demonstrates Balaena’s capability to support complex, high-value defence shipbuilding programmes to the exacting standards required by the Royal Navy.

Balaena Tyne delivered the first three 20-box barges for waste management firm Cory, helping remove around 100,000 hours of truck journeys from London’s roads each year.
The barges are part of a seven-year, multi-million pound contract that includes three more 20-box and sixteen 30-box barges.
Used to transport London’s residual waste along the River Thames, the new vessels will replace nearly half of Cory’s 50-strong fleet. Each barge carries between 270 and 400 tonnes of waste.
The first three, each about 35 metres long, were fabricated in Balaena Tyne’s main hall, painted off-site, tested in the dry dock, and towed to Charlton on the Thames in 2021.

Balaena Tyne fabricated two thruster compartments, a mezzanine deck, three skegs, and two electrical control rooms for the vessel Ulisse.
The thruster compartments were installed within existing ballast tanks and fully outfitted with equipment, including coolers, heaters, electrical panels, hydraulics, insulation, and paint.
New lifeboat platforms, davits, lifeboats, and associated equipment were also installed to increase the vessel’s capacity to 68 persons on board.