Young Apprentices Begin Working At Cammell Laird Shipyard

Cammell Laird apprentice Lacie Cudden, aged 17, poses at the company's shipyard where she is learning traditional ship building skills on December 5, 2008, in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The world famous shipyard has taken on 20 apprentices to fill a skills gap in it's work force and to fullfil it's commercial obligations. The youngsters will become experts in key skills such as plating, welding, pipe fitting, and mechanical engineering. The scheme also includes 17-year-old Lacie Cudden who is training to be a mechanical engineer. The new skills base is going against a government report indicating that modern apprenticeships will suffer in the economic downturn. In November the firm's management team relaunched the shipyard as 'Cammell Laird', bringing the world famous name 'back home.' to Merseyside.

( - Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Europe)