Part of Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), the Afloat Support Directorate was formed in April 2008 from the merger of the Military Afloat Reach & Sustainability (MARS) IPT and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Support (RFAS) IPT.

The Directorate will deliver the planned new fleet tankers and support vessels that will provide the Royal Navy at sea with fuel, stores and ammunition.

The Afloat Support Directorate also provides engineering support to the RFA vessels currently in service and is responsible for upkeep, update, safety management and spares support for vessels of the RFA flotilla, as well as being the design authority for these ships.

The activities of Afloat Support are also expected to provide new opportunities for the MoD, the Royal Navy and industry, centred on:

• Single point of contact  
• Strategic oversight of links between procurement & support  
• Increased emphasis on through-life management 
• Wider skills base 
• A team empowered to deliver 

Commodore David Preston, Director of Afloat Support, pictured, will outline the structure of the Directorate, the programmes it will be running and the opportunities that will arise.

For the full agenda please click here.

To reserve a place please contact us on 0191 255 1710 or email info@marinedesigncentre.com . Places cost £15 (+ VAT) for Marine Design Centre members and £50 (+ VAT) for non-members, and are limited to 2 per company. Space is limited so act quickly to reserve your place!

Afloat Support is the first of 3 Defence Equipment & Support events to come.

Forthcoming guest speakers include Mr Tony Graham, Director, Capital Ships and Mr Adrian Cudmore, Chief Engineer of the Naval Design Partnership.

Capital Ships responsibilities include CVF, through-life support for the In Service Carriers, Landing Platform Dock class, Landing Platform Helicopter class and the Type 42 class destroyers, as well as future procurement programmes. The Naval Design Partnership is the 'rainbow team' of design companies which will be tasked with the design of complex naval ships such as the Future Surface Combatant.

Dates & agendas for these 2 events will be published in future newsletters.

Training

We Bring AVEVA Back Yet Again!

Equipment & Piping Design, 22nd - 26th September

Members will be aware that we have already held a highly successful training course with AVEVA during 2008. We are now pleased to announce that AVEVA has accepted our invitation to host a further course on PDMS Equipment & Piping Design on 22nd - 26th September.

Not only is it great news that AVEVA are putting on the course, but there is also the major advantage that those attending do not have the time and financial costs involved of traveling outside of the region.

This excellent course covers a number of modules useful to equipment engineers & designers as well as instrument and electrical, architectural, piping, layout and structural engineers. The course will consist of basic functions, AVEVA Plant Design set-up, Equipment Design, Piping Design, Clash Detection, Reports and Isometric Production

For full course details please click here.

Places on the course cost £1700 (+ VAT). For further details please contact us on 0191 255 1710 or email info@marinedesigncentre.com

Member Success 

River Tyne Icons In safe hands with Noble Denton

An enquiry made to the Marine Design Centre from Vanguard Shipping has resulted in a significant contract for Noble Denton.

The firm, which set up a base in the North East last year, has won a poignant contract to ‘make-safe’ the huge cranes that towered over the River Tyne since the early sixties from their location at Swan Hunter shipyard. The Tyne icons, along with a floating crane, floating dry dock and other equipment, will be transported by a heavy lift ship to an Indian ship yard. Noble Denton won the contract to design the sea fastenings.

David Byrne of Noble Denton, said: “The removal of the cranes, which have been part of the skyline for so long will bring back memories for all those who have worked and travelled on the Tyne for many years. While the Tyne may have changed dramatically what has remained constant is the skills and versatility of the marine design sector which, in fact, is growing at a rapid rate.

“We were delighted with the speed at which the Marine Design Centre circulated the sales enquiry to relevant members and even more pleased that we eventually won the contract.”

And More...

Imtech Marine & Offshore wins contract with IHC Engineering Business

MDC member Imtech Marine & Offshore Ltd. with offices in Teesside, Newcastle upon Tyne and Glasgow, has just signed a contract with IHC Engineering Business from Riding Mill, Northumberland for the design, supply, installation and commissioning assistance for the electrical control systems on a ‘J’ Lay system to be installed on an offshore vessel. This contract will extend into 2010.

Imtech Marine & Offshore has also recently successfully completed the electrical installation on a large 24 meter carousel for IHC Engineering Business.

Bob Carling the Imtech Marine & Offshore Managing Director said: “We are delighted to receive this contract. This is repeat business from IHC Engineering Business and another milestone in Imtech establishing itself in the UK Marine Industry. Imtech have the local marine engineering and installation skills to provide a professional service on this prestigious project."

In 2007 Imtech Marine & Offshore completed the full electrical design, procurement, installation and commissioning of the RFA Bay class vessels (Lyme Bay, Cardigan Bay, Mounts Bay and Largs Bay) in Newcastle Upon Tyne and Govan Glasgow. All four vessels are in operation and performing well throughout the world. The company is also involved in the engineering phase of Heating Ventilation, & Air Conditioning (HVAC) for the new UK Aircraft Carriers by order of the Carrier Alliance.

NB: We would like to hear about your successful contract wins or awards you may have won. So please forward your press releases to info@marinedesigncentre.com

New member

A 'Rolls Royce' Service From PDL

A warm welcome to PDL Solutions (Europe) Ltd. Based in Hexham, a leading provider of advanced Computer Aided Design (CAD), Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), engineering design and analysis consultancy service to clients operating predominantly in the nuclear, defence and energy market sectors.

Over the past eight years, the company has developed full parametric engineering design; linear, non-linear and dynamic FEA; and multi-phase CFD capabilities to support even the most challenging marine and offshore programmes of work.

PDL Managing Director, Paul Charlton, said: “By networking our three core CAD, FEA and CFD capabilities into one operating environment, we’re able to help our client’s engineers optimise the performance of their proposed design throughout the design cycle and before actual parts are made.”

Paul adds, “Our key differentiator is that one PDL engineer does both the design and the analysis tasks. This ensures we deliver a truly engineered solution, in a shorter timescale and for less money.”

In recent years, PDL engineers have provided advanced engineering design and analysis support to notable UK organisations such as Rolls Royce, QinetiQ and the UK MoD on some of the most technically challenging marine projects such as the NATO Submarine Rescue Submersible (NSRS), the Integrated Waste Management programme for the Royal Navy and the upgrade of the LCVP landing craft on HMS Ocean.

Paul, added: “We look forward to working together with the Marine Design Centre, their global partners and our fellow MDC members to create an international awareness that the North East region not only has an impressive maritime heritage, but Companies operating within the region today have a proven capability and deserved reputation of delivering complex marine projects to the highest technical standard in a timely and cost effective manner.”

Paul Charlton can be contacted on T: 01 434 609 473, or send an e-mail direct to Paul at paul.charlton@pdl-group.com 

New Member Seeks Partners

Are You A Right Case?

A warm welcome to Daista Software, which is looking to get very, very close to our members!

Daista has developed a unique solution – called the Universal Integration Platform (uIP) that tackles the root cause of the through-life data integration problems not their symptoms. Daista invites fellow MDC members to participate in a programme of case studies to quantify the saving in their engineering IT environment, which can be at least 50% of the current cost of developing and maintaining customisations and bespoke applications. In addition, Daista offers a three month trial period licence free, with consultancy at cost for members who wish to pilot the uIP.

Kais Al-Timimi, a director of Daista Software, said: “We are looking to develop case histories with MDC members as many companies tell us that the promise of through-life data integration has not been delivered and that problems remain. If you think your current IT suppliers have not delivered we would really like to hear from you.” 

Contact Kais Al-Timimi on 0191 4909 232 or email: kais.al-timimi@daistasoftware.com

Drydocks World Whets The Appetite

There was a great turnout for the briefings held with Gary Gibson, Training Manager with Drydocks World - Dubai. Gary is a great advocate of the North East marine sector and there is no doubt that he is an influential figure within Drydocks World.

He gave plenty of time to members, including one-to-one discussions and is also providing contact details of key personnel within Drydocks World who are responsible for design, manufacturing and training contracts.

We would like to thank Gary for his effort and look forward to welcoming him to the Marine Design Centre when he next visits before the end of the year. We will inform members as to the date nearer the time.

Our picture shows Gary, right, presenting David Dobson of Babcock Design & Technology with a Drydocks World 25th Anniversary commemoration.

Virtual - but it's Reality

We are sure that all those involved at our Recruitment Fair in July were delighted with the publicity and support we received from ncj Media, publishers of The Journal, Evening Chronicle and Middlesbrough Evening Gazette.

We thought we would return the compliment and at the same time make members aware of a Virtual Jobs Fair set up by ncj Media which can be found on www.jobsnortheast.co.uk

Launching this month and running for three months, the Fair is an innovative and interactive way to advertise your vacancies to the 359,000 adults in the North East who turn to the Internet when looking for a new job.

For costs and more information on the virtual jobs fair please contact jobsnortheast.co.uk on 0191 206 7206 (Newcastle) 01642 877 877 (Teesside).

BVT - You Heard it Here First!

Those members who were present earlier in the year for the visit of Alan Johnston, CEO of BVT, (pictured left with MDC Director David Hewitt), the joint venture between BAE Systems and the VT Group, will recall that he talked about developing major contracts with the worldwide sector, and not just the MoD.

We were therefore delighted to read reports in the national media that, since formation on 1st July, BVT has already formed a joint venture with Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding to provide naval support services for the Gulf Co-operation Council Region. Congratulations to BVT and we look forward to welcoming Alan back to the Marine Design Centre in the future.