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Historically, all waterborne harbour services and some others (e.g. Mooring and
Salvage Vessels) were operated by the personnel of the Royal Maritime Auxiliary
Service (RMAS) under the direction of the local Captain of the Port or Queen’s
Harbourmaster. However in 1996 the majority of harbour services, particularly in
the Dockyard ports of Devonport, Portsmouth and The Clyde, were awarded to Serco
Denholm Ltd under a Government Owned/Commercially Operated (GOCO) contract.
In December 2002 the Warship Support Agency (WSA) and Serco Denholm Limited
signed an innovative partnering agreement for the management of the ports at
Devonport, Portsmouth and The Clyde (dual site operation at Faslane and Great
Harbour, Greenock). This three-year agreement and contract is valued at up to
£110 million and extends and builds upon the Marine Services management contract
awarded to Serco Denholm in 1996.
The WSA is a recently (2001) formed agency of the UK Ministry of Defence, and
Serco Denholm is a joint venture formed to combine the shipping expertise of
Denholm Group and the service industry knowledge of Serco. The MoD and Serco
Denholm have jointly developed this new partnering agreement to progressively
introduce efficiency measures and innovation in order to reduce the overall
output costs of Marine Services. The long-term aim of the MoD is to prepare
Marine Services for a PPP/PFI procurement programme. The agreement caters for
the delivery of In-Port and Out-Of-Port Marine Services over the next three
years whilst generating new and original solutions for the long-term provision
of these services.
At the time of the launch of the WSA, personnel numbered 12,500, of whom 3,500
were Service personnel. In addition a tri-service project under the stewardship
of the Chief Executive, the Non-Project procurement Office (NPPO) comprises a
further 236 staff.
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