Tidespring came alongside at A&P Group's Falmouth facility in southwest England on the morning of 2 April 2017 following her delivery voyage from South Korea. Built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) at its Okpo yard, the ship is the first of four Tide class tankers procured to replace the now retired Leaf and Rover class vessels. The Tide class ships have been procured to provide the RFA with a single class of flexible, capable tankers able to meet changed legislative and operational requirements. "The aim is to deliver highly available ships at low operating costs, including fuel economy" said Robin Boulby, MARS Tanker team leader in the MoD's Defence Equipment and Support organisation. "These new ships will be flexibly deployed anywhere in the world to support Royal Navy operations. So an important aspect of this project is to meet the latest legislation in terms of safety and environmentals [SOLAS and MARPOL]."
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