Kvaerner Govan Ltd invested £30m in modernisation of the shipyard during the early 1990s to enable it to specialise in the construction of gas carriers and chemical tankers.

Other investment included renovating one of the yard's three slipways to incorporate a hydraulic 'skidding' system to allow ship blocks and tanks to be moved up and down the berth for assembly, with another filled in to create more berthside storage area.

The new indoor modular block construction techniques cut the time ships spent on the outdoor slipways to 20 weeks from 18 months, which, along with reforms in labour relations, improved productivity at the yard by 40% between 1988 and 1992.

Continued investment in capital equipment such as plasma cutting and panel line welding, has seen the Govan Shipyard emerge as BAE Systems' Steelwork Centre of Excellence.

The 220-ton capacity Fairfield Titan crane, built in 1911, was demolished in 2007 to make way for construction of modules for the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers at the yard.