A CLOUD of uncertainty still hangs over the fate of Vosper Thornycroft's Southampton shipyard as the workforce celebrates a multi-million pound slice of a massive UK warship contract.
After an unprecedented campaign that united the south, VT is to build individual sections of the revolutionary Type 45 destroyer, securing hundreds of local jobs for the next decade.
It is a bitter sweet victory for Southampton as the government deal means VT will certainly move all its major shipbuilding operations away from its long established yard at Woolston to a bigger facility in Portsmouth.
The company says no firm decision has been made over what will happen to the Woolston yard once the present Southampton order book is completed.
The only hope is that VT clinches further orders in the future for more smaller craft, such as the offshore patrol vessels now being constructed at Woolston, which could be built in the city.
FOR FULL STORY SEE PAGES 2 AND 3 OF TODAY'S DAILY ECHO.
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