London — Britain’s biggest warship yet, the new £3.1bn aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, has a leak and needs repairs, the ministry of defence said on Tuesday. The 65,000-tonne ship, hailed as Britain’s most advanced military vessel and which was only officially commissioned by the Queen two weeks ago, has an issue with a shaft seal that was identified in sea trials, the ministry said. "This is scheduled for repair while she is alongside at Portsmouth," a Royal Navy spokesman said. The Sun newspaper reported that the 280m warship, the nation’s future flagship vessel, was letting in 200l of water every hour and the fix would cost millions of pounds. A defence source said the navy was aware the ship had an issue when it was handed over by manufacturers and the Sun said the builders would have to foot the repair bill. The Aircraft Carrier Alliance — a consortium including British engineering companies BAE Systems and Babcock, and the UK division of France’s Thales — built the Queen...
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