"Wouldn't be appropriate": MP declines to say how much Royal Navy's HMS Albion and Bulwark have been sold for
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A defence minister declined to share how much two retired Royal Navy ships have been sold for.
Minister for defence readiness and industry, Luke Pollard, remained tight-lipped on the agreement to sell HMS Albion and Bulwark to Brazil. The two Landing Platform Docks were decommissioned in November 2024, despite millions of pounds being spent on recent refits and maintenance.
Ben Obese-Jecty, Conservative MP for Huntingdon, asked the Ministry of Defence (MoD) what the financial gain was for selling both former Royal Navy flagships.
Responding to the parliamentary written question, Mr Pollard, Labour, said: “Discussions with potential international partners remain commercially sensitive, and it would not be appropriate to provide details of any prospective proceeds while these engagements are ongoing.”
Loss of taxpayer funds
The MoD’s Annual Report and Accounts published last year revealed the retirement of HMS Albion and Bulwark cost £428m in “constructive losses”. This was listed as a book value, how much an individual asset is worth when appearing in a balance sheet.
A book value shows the initial cost of acquiring the asset, which is then adjusted over time depending on depreciation, amortization, and other factors. This drew staunch criticism amid the deal to sell the ships to Brazil.
An agreement for HMS Bulwark was signed aboard HMS Mersey at the Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) conference in London in September 2025. The 19,560 tonne vessel is due to be renamed NDM Oiapoque, with renovations still being carried out to the ship in Plymouth.
News website Globo in Brazil reported that both vessels were sold for R$145m, the equivalent of roughly £20m - a figure which has not been confirmed or denied by the MoD.
As previously reported in The News, then minister of state for defence procurement Maria Eagle previously said the MoD spent £132.7m on refits for HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark since 2010. That figure did not include an estimated £72.1m cost to refit HMS Bulwark between 2022 and 2025, which was already underway when the decision was made to retire her.
Defence secretary John Healey defended the decision to retire the Royal Navy warships at the time, stating they were superficially kept on the books at the cost of £9m a year despite no intentions of them returning to sea. Mr Pollard reiterated this in a previous response.
He said: “Neither HMS Albion nor HMS Bulwark were due to go to sea ahead of their out-of-service dates in 2033 and 2034. Their disposal shows that we are delivering for defence by divesting ourselves of old capabilities to make way for the future. These ships were effectively mothballed by the previous Government.”