The Seawork International Exhibition takes place in the Canary Islands Fruit Terminal, 103-104 Herbert Walker Avenue, ABP Southampton, Hampshire, SO15 1HJ, United Kingdom.

Come and see us at stand number A105.

For further information, including directions, please click this link.

Bookings at the Wear Dock Facility are scheduled to reach 32 vessels this year in dry dock and 28 vessels alongside for both extensive repairs and general running repairs. A wide variety of projects includes vessel refits, conversions, running repairs, mobilisation and de-mobilisation, tugs and ferries.

Approved contractor by International Paints

The success of this was demonstrated when International Paints were invited to carry out an audit of the yard which resulted in UK Docks becoming an approved contractor by International Paints for the application of their Intersleek paint system which requires application under strict quality control procedures.

Quote from inspection:

“The yard now employs its own in house painters, rather than contractors. The paint foreman had considerable experience and had done many Intersleek applications on Naval vessels.”

Expanded operations at TSL Marine Services

TSL Marine Services have expanded their operation in the Gosport facility to encompass increased joinery services and have completed the first non-marine contract this week. Whilst they previously carried out outfitting work on vessels some work required to be sub-contracted due to workspace capacity.

The increased unit allows larger contracts to quoted for and carried out using in house quality controlled labour and recruitment is now underway to service the increased workload already experienced.

A new repair facility at Whitehaven Marina

The company have now acquired a lease on a fully serviced covered in repair facility at Whitehaven which will service the local marine craft and also the smaller vessels servicing the new wind farm development up to 22 meters.

View more information on the Whitehaven Marina and a Ground Floor Layout.

Conversion from the MV Putford Achiever

The vessel sailed from South Africa to UK Docks, Wear Dock Facility to undergo the £1.5m conversion transforming her from an Anchor Handling Tug/Supply (AHTS) vessel to become the renamed Putford Achiever, a 300 Survivor Multi-Role SBSV vessel. More than 100 workers were employed on the vessel and the principle conversion work involved the removal of the 70 tonne towing winch and associated equipment, closing in the deck side cargo rails, constructing and erecting the stern structure to enclose the deck area in addition to converting all tank vent pipe work.

Conversion to the MV Seacor Achiever

On completion of the conversion preparation work the vessel was fitted with a fully compliant deckhouse complete with showering and toilet facilities, fully outfitted bed /seating recovery areas and hospital facilities. In addition to the conversion, extensive repairs were carried out to the vessels hull and machinery with major repairs carried out to the port and starboard main propulsion. The hull was blasted and painted in the new colours of Boston Putford Offshore Safety and the work took place over a 3 month period.

Those involved in designing the autonomous rescue and recovery craft (ARRC) have hailed it a huge success.

The vessel was commissioned by BP as part of a programme of measures aimed at improving safety in the North Sea.

Read more about this story at the following addresses:

• BBC News
• Sunderland Echo
• Whitby Gazette

I would just like to say that the resent docking of ship Douwent in my home town of Sunderland was by far the best dry-docking of a dry-cargo ship I have seen and experienced in the ten years I have worked for Campbell Maritime Ltd, Pritchard Gordon Tankers. From the first email that I received from Alan Bell in regards to quotation I felt comfortable…

Click here to download the full testimonial »

The skipper of the RV DISCOVERY, Jim Baylor, was very happy with the service and efficiency with which the work was undertaken;

“I would recommend this yard to anyone looking for friendly and attentive service as well as good work completed on time – They do things when they say they’re going to do things, which makes a change from other yards we have used in the past”

The first of a new generation of wave-powered generators designed and built in Sunderland’s shipyards has set sail. The million-pound Neptune Proteus tidal stream demonstrator has been built on Wearside by family-run Wear Dock and Engineering. Weighing more than 160 tonnes and stretching to around 20 metres long, with a breadth of 14 metres, the generator is being shipped to Humberside where it will be put into action in a series of trials. A 1,000 tonne crane has been drafted in to lift the generator onto a 40 metre sq barge.

Neptune Proteus is the first tidal generator to be manufactured at the site of the city’s former shipbuilding yards. Since taking over the Wear Dockyard in 2002 Harry Wilson and his family have established Wear Dock and Engineering as a leading east coast ship-repairer and marine engineering facility.

Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “This is a very exciting time for Mr Wilson and his team at Wear Dock and Engineering. We would like to hope that the manufacture of the tidal power generator demonstrates Sunderland’s ability to deliver these new innovative and green industry projects on time and on budget, creating further opportunities for the city to harness its maritime engineering and manufacturing skills.

“The renewable energy sector has the potential to grow at a rapid rate and we’ll be very interested to see how the initial trials of this generator go when it is installed in the River Humber.”

Wear Dock beat off stiff competition to land the contract to produce the generator for East Yorkshire-based Neptune Renewable Energy. The company plans to install the tidal power generator for an initial three-month evaluation period. Its innovative design means it has potential to produce 30 percent more electricity compared to traditional hydro designs.

Harry Wilson, managing director at Wear Dock and Engineering, said:

“There is clearly great potential in tidal power. It is cost-effective, environmentally friendly and has advantages over other renewable energy types due to the consistency of the tides. This project will hopefully lead to more work within the renewable energy sector, which will not only secure existing jobs in the city but longer term will enable us to create new jobs including apprenticeships.”

Said Nigel Petrie, chairman, Neptune Renewable Energy Ltd:

“We believe that the future for Neptune Renewable Energy and Proteus is extremely bright, given the renewed focus by Government on renewable power generation. We are confident that this technology can be successfully applied in other sites in the UK and, potentially, worldwide.”