NAVAL support and maritime services company Isherwoods has won a multi-million pound contract to supply ship management systems for the next generation of amphibious assault craft.

The contract is likely to boost employment at the North Shields operation.

Isherwoods, which employs about 25 staff at its base at Royal Quays, designs and develops computer systems for logistic support and ship maintenance.

The contract involves Isherwoods providing a package of computer equipment for four amphibious assault craft being built for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA).

Swan Hunter, on the Tyne, has been chosen as the lead contractor for all four ships, and has awarded the contract for Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) to Isherwoods.

The company will provide a comprehensive package of computerised systems, technical manuals and logistics support analysis services.

The systems will help to identify critical maintenance needs, evaluate and manage the ships' spare parts and provide maintenance and supply management systems.

Isherwoods won the contract after two years working with Swan Hunter and the MoD on developing the ILS systems.

The four new ships, known as Alternative Landing Ship Logistic (ALSL) vessels, are being built to a Dutch design under a contract worth £300m.

Swan Hunter is set to build two of the 16,000-tonne vessels, to be named RFA Largs Bay and RFA Lyme Bay, at its Wallsend yard.

They are scheduled to enter service in January 2004 and January 2005 respectively.

The other two ships are being built by BAE Systems Marine at its Govan yard on a similar time scale.

The new vessels will replace the aging Sir Bedivere class of landing vessels.

The contract win is the latest in a long line for Isherwoods, a subsidiary of French naval shipbuilding group Constructions Mecaniques de Normandie, of Cherbourg. It has recently won work to supply maintenance management systems for a fleet of 12 coastal defence vessels for the Canadian navy, and an integrated logistic support package for the Kuwait Naval Force.