Lewis Clelland of Babcock, Rosyth has been chosen as the top welder in the 2012 ESAB Shipweld competition for shipyard apprentices with the grand final held at BAE Systems in Portsmouth. Jack Thompson of Babcock, Appledore was named as the runner-up and the shipyard welding team award went to Babcock, Rosyth.
Ten finalists battled it out in Portsmouth, undertaking three welding tasks to test their all-round skills in a format that provided a chance for apprentices to engage in competitive welding. Clelland said: “It was a great competition and I was surprised to win. The standard of all the contestants’ test pieces looked really high. Participating in this kind of competition can open doors in our future careers and I’ll be encouraging other apprentices at Rosyth to enter Shipweld 2013.”
Sean Donaldson, director and general manager, Warship Programmes at Babcock said: “This has been another challenging competition for all the apprentices involved in the Shipweld competition. I am extremely proud of the Babcock representatives who have taken part and been successful in applying the skills and experience they have to secure awards as individuals and as a team.”
