Regina Maria, the second of two ex-Royal Navy Type 22 frigates regenerated and modernised by a BAE Systems-led team for the Romanian Navy, has been officially named and commissioned at Portsmouth.

The ceremony was attended by Mr Ioan Ion, Secretary of State for Armaments of Romania, and Britain’s Minister for Defence Procurement Lord Bach. The handover of Regina Maria (formerly HMS London) follows the commissioning of the Regele Ferdinand (formerly HMS Coventry) on 9 September 2004.

The two ships became available for sale in 2001. Agreement was reached for their acquisition following discussions between the UK and Romanian Governments in December 2002.

The reactivation of the ships to operational condition and NATO standards was undertaken through the MOD’s Defence Logistics Organisation, which placed a £116m contract with BAE Systems Customer Solutions & Support (CS&S) for the work. CS&S led the reactivation and upgrade project, which included a wide span of UK industry.

BAE Systems group managing director for CS&S and Land Systems Ian King commented: “Romania’s Queen Maria, after whom this vessel is named, did much to strengthen ties between Romania and Britain. Her namesake Regina Maria is already doing the same. We have worked closely with the UK MOD and the Romanian customer, as well as our Portsmouth-based joint venture partners FSL and Flagship and the rest of the industry team. Together we have delivered our NATO allies two highly-capable naval vessels.”

Rolls-Royce reconditioned the ships’ engines and Flagship was responsible for crew training. Fleet Support Ltd completed a demanding 13-month extensive system replacement, upgrade and installation package.

FSL director of engineering and ship support, Mal Lewis, explained: “Regenerating HMS London was even more demanding than the first ship, HMS Coventry, because she was laid up for much longer, meaning there was a far greater level of emergent work.

“It was an impressive demonstration of our ability to deliver complex machinery and systems packages, working in close partnership with Royal Navy personnel under the Team Portsmouth banner.”

“The partnering approach to prime contracting adopted by BAE Systems directly aligns with FSL’s Team Portsmouth values and ethos; this was key to the on-time delivery of these vessels to the required quality and budget.”

Equipment fitted by FSL as part of the upgrade to both ships included an Oto Melara 76mm rapid-fire gun with Radamec electro-optical tracking system; AMS Nautis fire control system; BAE Systems MPS2000 communications system; Inmarsat B global maritime distress and safety system; Terma SKWS decoy system; and Sperry Marine Mark 39 ring laser gyro compass and LMX 420 global positioning system.

The handover followed successful sea trials in March designed to demonstrate the operability of all Regina Maria’s systems and structures. These included high-speed trials at speeds of up to 28 knots and testing of sensors and weapon systems, involving gun and dummy torpedo firings. Representatives from Romania were on board to witness the demonstrations.