Albion-class landing platform dock
[8] As these ships were built in the 1960s, on 18 July 1996 the British Ministry of Defence awarded a £450 million contract for their replacements to Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (VSEL) in Barrow-in-Furness.[12] It was confirmed that Albion would be the first of the two vessels to be placed at extended readiness, for a cost of £2.5 million, as Bulwark had recently finished a major refit.[13] In 2024, it was reported that, due to manning problems in the Royal Navy and despite the pending completion of a major refit of HMS Bulwark, both vessels were now expected to remain in reserve.[17] However, in November 2024, the recently elected Labour government indicated that they would in fact be retired early in order to save money.[11] The diesel electric system can propel the ships to a maximum speed of 18 knots and have a range of 8,000 miles (13,000 km).[19] The latter has the capacity to hold thirty-one large trucks and thirty-six smaller vehicles[10] or six Challenger 2 tanks and thirty armoured personnel carriers.When commissioned, the ships were fitted with two Kelvin Hughes Type 1007/8 I-band radars, for navigation and aircraft control.[22] On 26 January 2025, the Daily Mail reported the sale for Brazil of the two boats of the class, Albion and Bulwark, in a negociation of £20 million, yet to be confirmed by the Royal and Brazilian navies.[30] While remaining temporarily deployable if required, in July 2023 she entered reduced readiness (skeleton crew aboard for ship maintenance).[34] Despite this recent refit (which had already cost £72.1 million),[35] in November 2024 it was indicated that HMS Bulwark, along with her sister ship, would in fact be taken out of service completely.