Shipyard takes advantage of designer’s portfolio
Strategic Marine hopes it will gain orders for vessels like this through its partnership with BMT Nigel Gee
Australian ship builder Strategic Marine and UK-based vessel design company BMT Nigel Gee have signed a 'teaming agreement' which will provide the ship builder with access to BMT Nigel Gee's many designs.
Strategic Marine says it is particularly interested in designs for vessels for the offshore wind industry and the passenger ferry market, and under the agreement it will be able to leverage BMT Nigel Gee's design expertise - in combination with its own manufacturing capabilities in Asia - to provide competitive solutions to operators globally. The builder regards Europe as a prime a target market for this business.
Strategic Marine chief marketing officer Terry O'Connor said: "This agreement gives us immediate access to many proven designs and allows us to expand our already large portfolio of vessels.Having attained significant success in the offshore oil and gas sector we can use our experience to work with BMT Nigel Gee developing world leading solutions for operators around the world."
O'Connor said Strategic Marine conducted an extensive market research project in 2010 which identified several new target markets, including offshore wind support vessels and passenger ferries. "Our agreement with BMT Nigel Gee sets us on a path of meeting our objective to be a world leader in these markets," he said. “We already have a reputation as a world leader in aluminium crew boat construction and BMT is one of the world's largest independent design consultancies. The competitive advantage we offer is the ability to manufacture these vessels very cost effectively at our yards in Singapore and Vietnam while maintaining quality through high levels of Australian input and content management expertise."
BMT technical director Edward Dudson said: "This relationship we believe will provide a very attractive proposition for the renewable energy sector given the increasingly strong demand for new vessels here in Europe. Strategic Marine has large facilities in Asia and as a consequence is able to provide very quick deliveries. While our initial focus is on the offshore wind and passenger ferry markets, we will also be working together with Strategic Marine to identify other opportunities."
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