THE second ship to be built on the River Tyne this decade had its official naming ceremony yesterday.
The Swan Hunter shipyard, in Wallsend, North Tyneside, has nearly completed work on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Lyme Bay.
Work will now continue on the internal fittings.
Swans won a £140m Ministry of Defence contract in 2000 to design and build the Lyme Bay and its sister ship, the Largs Bay, which secured the yard's future and revived shipbuilding in the North-East. The Lyme Bay will provide logistic support to military oper- ations.
It has a flight deck for helicopters, two 30-ton deck cranes for loading and space for military vehicles and battle tanks.
The vessel will go into service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary next year after final commissioning and tests are completed.
Lady Elizabeth Fry carried out the official naming ceremony on Lyme Bay at the yard yesterday afternoon.
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