February 2006

Turbinia Works Main Assembly Area

Load out of 180tePlough from Turbinia Works

  
NEW SMD HYDROVISION PRODUCTION FACILITY IN FULL SWING 

Phase 1 of SMD Hydrovision's (SMDH) new production facility on the banks of the River Tyne in Newcastle is now complete, with the works in full swing with a number of exciting projects.  Currently in assembly are Quantum 2 for CTC Marine, and five Hercules systems for Subsea 7.  All of these systems will be delivered along with handling systems on schedule in March and early April.  Later in the Autumn, a new 75te 2000kW Pipe Riding Jetter for SeaTrucks in Nigeria will be delivered.

The facility, known as the Turbinia Works, has 31,000 sq ft of production space, clean rooms for electronics and hydraulics assembly, cranes for lifting up to 100te, and 5000 sq ft of project offices.  It also has direct access to the riverside for loadout and wet testing.  This, along with a large and skilled work force, gives SMDH an unequalled capability in production capacity, quality and leadtime for complete spreads of subsea vehicle systems.

The site was first used in 2004 as a temporary facility for assembling SMDH's heavier equipment.  The 180te AMP500 Pipeline Plough , a 120te Backfill Plough and 100te Heave Compensator were all assembled there and loaded out directly to vessels by SMDH in 2004.

In late 2005 the site was completely refurbished and new facilities built to house all of SMDH’s production work.  Phase 2 of the project will see the construction of a state the art design and administration office on the Turbinia Works site in late 2006/early 2007.

SMD Hydrovision also has orders for a cable burial system for Northrop Grumman, Quantums 3 and 4 (with options for a further 6 ROVs) and a new trenching system - both with associated handling equipment.  Further details of the latter will be released soon.  Nevertheless, SMDH still has plenty of capacity for further new equipment build in the second half of 2006 and beyond.

For more information contact 

Underwater Video Systems P/L