IT IS the pinnacle of the Do-It-Yourself culture inspired by Swedish furniture maker Ikea - an ocean-going ship that you assemble yourself.

The world-famous Tyneside shipbuilder Swan Hunter revealed yesterday it hopes to return to its glory days by building flatpack ships.

The ships will come with numbered pieces and CD-rom instructions for assembly at shipyards around the world.

Swan Hunter's Dutch boss Jaap Kroese likened the process to the way Swedish firm Ikea makes furniture - an idea that might have come to the minds of shipyard bosses after visiting Ikea's Gateshead store.

The yard, which built vessels such as the Mauretania and HMS Richmond, closed in 1994 with the loss of 2,000 jobs. But a year later it was bought by Mr Kroese, a Dutch multi-millionaire.

The Tyneside shipyard has come up with the idea in which customers from around the world will be able to order vessels in kit form and have them shipped out to be assembled in their own yards.

Swan Hunter has won offshore orders and built up a workforce, but Kroese's ambition of bringing shipbuilding back to the yard still eludes him.

His firm is bidding to win a £140m Ministry of Defence contract to build two troop-landing ships, but will have to wait until October for a decision.

Mr Kroese believes his flat-pack scheme would generate enough work to create a further 350 jobs and manufacture 40,000 tonnes of shipping a year.