Royal Navy: Crucial BAE Systems update issued after fire erupts at Nuclear submarine shipyard in Barrow

Several people were taken to hospital after the fire at BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness on Wednesday but they have now been released and bosses said neither the shipyard nor the nuclear submarines suffered serious damage.

A BAE Systems spokesperson said: “Following the fire in the Devonshire Dock Hall (DDH) at our Barrow-in-Furness site on Wednesday October 30, a full investigation and clean-up activities are now under way. The affected area is accessible to essential personnel only but the remainder of the site is fully operational.

“We would again like to thank the emergency services and all our partners and agencies involved whose bravery and professionalism ensured our colleagues were quickly and safely evacuated from the area. We’re also grateful to the local community for their patience and co-operation throughout.

“The multi-agency response to the incident prevented significant damage to the DDH facility and the submarine units within it. We are continuing a full assessment of the impact and are developing a comprehensive plan to progress remedial action but early investigations indicate the fire has had limited impact. Work continues on Astute Boat 6, which is currently in the water in the Devonshire Dock, and both the Dreadnought and SSN-AUKUS programmes are progressing.”

Astute Boat 6 is the sixth of the seven Astute Class submarines that have been built at the Barrow shipyard. Astute Class boats are the largest and most advanced attack submarines that have ever been built for the Royal Navy.

At the time of the fire, people living next door to the nuclear submarine shipyard saw thick smoke and bright flashes at the site. Emergency services stood down their major incident response to the fire the same afternoon, and Cumbria Police said there was no nuclear risk.