Mansell has won a £1.9 million contract to build a Royal Navy Sea Survival Training Centre at Horsea Island, Portsmouth for the Royal Navy.

The new centre will be built using a traditional steel frame and will achieve an "Excellent" Defence Related Environmental Assessment Method (DREAM) rating.

The project comprises two individual buildings straddling the existing slipway with an interconnecting canopy which acts as a service link between buildings and also cover for the slipway. Both are single storey with one housing the 'dry' classroom facilities for the theory and the other housing the ‘wet’ training area for the practical learning of their studies before the trainees apply their learnt sea survival techniques in the lake servicing the base. The training facility also houses storage for the training vessels, wash down areas and ablutions.


Although not the biggest project Mansell has undertaken on behalf of the Royal Naval Infrastructure Organisation (RNIO) it is one of the most important facilities to be constructed due to the volume of trainees passing through. All seagoing members of the Royal Navy, as well as Royal Marines and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, have to pass through the facility before joining their ship.

The existing facility, which cuts through the middle of the site, will remain in operation throughout construction.

This is the last significant scheme to be procured through the framework agreement with VT Flagship. The project will replace the old facility which was established in 1982, following the introduction of a statutory requirement for all Royal Navy personnel to undertake regular training in ship abandonment and sea survival procedures.

Construction has recently started on site and will complete in January 2012.

(CD)