A CONTRACT to build three new Royal Navy ships on the Clyde will secure jobs until 2017, according to a union.
Three patrol vessels are to be ordered at a cost of £348 million, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced.
The vessels, which will be used by the Royal Navy to support UK interests at home and abroad, will be built at BAE Systems' shipyards.
David Hulse, GMB national officer for shipbuilding, said "This is great news for Scotland after the recent announcements of job losses. This secures work at the Govan shipyard till 2017.
"GMB members there deserve the jobs on these three offshore patrol vessels after continued campaigns to win the work."
The MoD declined to comment on whether a Yes vote in the independence referendum would have any bearing on the contract.
"The Government is not planning for independence and is not making any contingency plans," a spokeswoman said.
The Scottish Government said all work for Clyde yards was welcome but that independence offered the best future for the industry.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: "UK warships are only built in UK shipyards. This multi-million-pound contract shows our commitment to investing in new ships for the Royal Navy and maintaining in the UK the expertise needed to build the warships of the future."
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander visited the BAE Systems site yesterday to meet some of the employees who will be involved in manufacturing the vessels when work begins this autumn.
Mr Alexander said: "Today's announcement continues over 200 years of tradition building the nation's leading ships on the Clyde. This will also support hundreds of jobs in the region and make an important contribution to the wider UK economy."
A spokesman for Scottish transport minister Keith Brown said: "All work for the Clyde shipyards is very welcome, but this Westminster reannouncement just weeks before the referendum doesn't change the fact that independence offers the best future for the industry, something recognised by the veterans of the legendary Upper Clyde Shipbuilders work-in who are backing a Yes vote."
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