"Unseaworthy" Royal Navy ships HMS Albion and Bulwark could be sold to Brazil as sale reaches advanced stage

HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, which were deemed “unseaworthy” by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), are potentially bound for South America. The two former flagships were officially retired in November last year in a bid to cut costs.

A MoD spokesperson said: “We can confirm we have entered discussions with the Brazilian Navy over the potential sale of HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion. As announced in November, both ships are being decommissioned from the Royal Navy. Neither were planned to go back to sea before their out of service dates in the 2030s.”

The UK Defence Journal reports the Brazilian Navy formally signed an agreement to buy the Albion-class vessels during the LAAD Defence & Security 2025 event in Rio de Janeiro. An agreement, described as a “protocol of intentions”, was signed last Wednesday (April 2) on the bicentennial tear of diplomatic relations between the nation and the UK.

The landing platform docks are being sought by the nation because of their strategic military use and ability to support a wide range of tasks, from amphibious operations to humanitarian disaster relief. This follows the previous sale of HMS Ocean to Brazil for around £84m in 2018. A sale to Brazil was first mooted in 2024.

Admiral Edgar Luiz Siqueira Barbosa, Director General of Navy Material said: “We have seen the need for Navy ships to support the population in the various calamities that have occurred due to climate variations, such as the floods that occurred in São Sebastião in 2023 and in Rio Grande do Sul in 2024. Several British ships, throughout the existence of the naval fleet, have been incorporated into the MB. They are quality ships, so we already have this good experience.”

Why are HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark being sold?

Defence secretary John Healey announced the mothballed ships would be retired while speaking to parliament. Alongside the two landing platforms, he said the Type 23 frigate HMS Northumberland would be decommissioned alongside 46 watchkeeper Mk1 drones, 14 Chinook helicopter, two Wave-class tankers and 17 Puma helicopters.

The Labour politician said this would save the taxpayer £150m over the next two years and £500 over the next five years - with funds going elsewhere in the defence budget. He added the ships were "superficially kept on the books” at a cost of £9m a year. Opposition to the sale from Conservative politicians and military experts has been fierce due to the capability being stripped from the fleet and a lack of immediate replacements - with the construction of Type 26 and 31 frigates being years away from completion.

The government is currently assessing where to allocate military funds, with the Strategic Defence Review currently ongoing. Speaking to the defence select committee in December 2024, Lieutenant General Sir Robert Magowan KCB CBE said: “In terms of the six retirements, the secretary of state outlined to the house the implications of that.

“Three of those involved vessels that were no longer seaworthy, so we were spending money against capabilities that were never going to be used operationally. There was a pretty strong case with regards to those three classes of ship.”

HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion last went to sea in 2023 and 2017 respectively, after being commissioned to the fleet two decades ago. A figure for how much the MoD would receive has yet to be confirmed, but some national news outlets report this could be £20m.