Disgruntled contractors are alleged to have sabotaged a British Royal Navy ship being fitted out on the River Clyde in Glasgow, according to media reports.
More than 60 cables were damaged on the HMS Glasgow during work on the BAE Scotstoun facility, according to the UK Defence Journal.
The incident stopped work on the ship for a short period, the journal added, as an investigation was launched to identify the culprits and their motives.
A Type 26 frigate, HMS Glasgow is one of the Royal Navy’s newest ships and briefly took to the water for the first time last year.
BAE Systems is the main contractor responsible for building and fitting out HMS Glasgow. Once completed there will be about 23,000 cables on the ship — including data cables and power cables.
“We uncovered a limited number of cables on HMS Glasgow earlier in the week, which appear to have been damaged intentionally,” a company official said.
“We immediately launched an internal investigation, alongside our suppliers, and temporarily paused work on the ship to inspect every area of the vessel and ensure our high standards and quality controls are met.
“Normal operations have now resumed and an assessment is under way to scope the repairs needed.”
HMS Glasgow was the first of the new tranche of Navy frigates to reach water, when it sailed down the Clyde on a barge, escorted by Ministry of Defence Police.
An order for 13 frigates has been placed with Scottish shipyards, with the Type 31 vessels being built by Babcock at Rosyth on the east coast and the Type 26 ships being constructed by BAE Systems on the Clyde.
The new generation of frigates was said to be able to sustain 4,000 UK jobs.
In February, the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier set sail on a training exercise without a full stock of ammunition and fighter jets due to “severe supply shortages”.
HMS Prince of Wales, the navy's newest carrier, broke down off England's south coast at the start of a trans-Atlantic voyage and barely made it passed the Isle of Wight.
