North of England Technology Round-up

Armstrong Technology

Armstrong Technology is an international marine consultancy with an established reputation as one of Europe's leading FPSO design organizations. The company's key strengths lie in:

complete independence from manufacturing interests
total fusion of naval architecture, costing and system engineering skills.

Its track record includes extensive experience in the design, construction and conversion of a variety of ships and floating structures, with offshore commitments from the North Sea to Africa and the Far East.

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Bruce Anchor

For 25 years Bruce Anchor has been a leading designer and supplier of anchors and associated mooring equipment to the offshore oil industry. The Bruce FFTS MK4 anchor, with its unique rollover ability and ease of racking, is proving popular for rig upgrades due to these characteristics reducing rig downtime during anchor handling operations. This year, the FFTS MK4 design has been chosen for high holding power anchors in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, South Africa and the Far East. Rig Set versions have also been supplied for the semis Rowan Midland, Transocean Leader, the Ocean Victory and Japan Drilling Co.'s Hakuryu 5. among others.

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INTO

Established in 1993 by the North Tyneside Economic Partnership, INTO (Invest in North Tyneside Office) provides potential relocating companies with a highly responsive and efficient service. Part of the Local Authority's Economic Development team, INTO works in concert with other business support agencies including English Partnerships and the local Training Enterprise Council to identify sites and premises, funding packages and work force details to ensure Inward Investing companies have their project delivered to their specification and deadline.

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Leigh's Paints

Bolton-based Leigh's Paints produces what may be an unrivalled range of advanced protective steel coatings for the offshore and petrochemicals industries. The products, all of which have been exhaustively tested to meet relevant standards, include the latest passive fire protection technology embodied in Firetex M90, the thick film epoxy tumescent giving up to two hours protection in jetfire and hydrocarbon fire situations. Leigh's also produces high performance coatings such as Epigrip primers and glass flake epoxies, Epidek heavy duty deck screed and Duraglass, an improved range of polyester and vinylester glass flakes.

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Mech-Tool

After 25 years at the forefront of fixed platform safety technology, blast and fire protection specialist Mech-Tool Engineering has successfully bridged the gap to floating platforms and remains an international market leader in offshore safety. It has just supplied double skin heatshields to protect the turret area of Shell's Curlew FPSO, and has developed uninsulated fire barriers resistant to jet-fire for 30 minutes for Odebrecht-SLP's MacCulloch vessel. Meanwhile, Mech-Tool's 145 meter long escape tunnel, designed for BP's Schiehallion FPSO, can withstand a jet-fire of 300kW/m for 30 minutes and remain functional following a blast overpressure of 500mbar.

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Nutec

Nutec is the recognized market leader for training in offshore safety, providing a range of courses covering survival, fire-fighting, helicopter landing and escape, and first aid. The company has worked with Liberty Occupational Health (formerly OMS) to open the Nutec Liberty Occupational Health Centre at its Centre for Safety on Teesside, UK. As well as providing a full range of occupational health services, all medicals can now be performed at the Liberty Centre - meaning that all aspects of OPITO-BOSIET courses can be delivered in one location, a facility unique in the UK.

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Odebrecht-SLP Engineering

Odebrecht-SLP Engineering operates two platform construction facilities at Lowestoft and Teesside, an engineering office in Woking, Surrey, UK, a subsea division specializing in design and fabrication of templates, manifolds etc as well as manufacture of subsea pipeline protection mattresses. SLP's Teesside yard also includes an FPSO berthing quay for vessel conversion. Recently, SLP completed the engineering and conversion of the FPSO vessel North Sea Producer, destined for the Conoco-operated MacCulloch Field. SLP also owns and operates the vessel.

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Slingsby Engineering

Slingsby Engineering is a leading manufacturer of remotely operated vehicles and diverless tooling systems for subsea intervention. The company's worldwide reputation for quality and innovative engineering is founded on its ISO 9001 registration and market-leading products - the MRV and Spartan ROVs and the TA9 manipulator. In addition, Slingsby produces a range of underwater tools and undertakes design studies offering a range of experienced engineering skills. It is ideally placed to take client requirements from concept to commissioned systems.

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Swan Hunter (Tyneside)

Swan Hunter (Tyneside) was created in 1995 when the famous Tyneside yard was acquired by THC Fabricators who moved their successful operation from Hartlepool. Having spent 10 years building a management team capable of completing major projects ahead of schedule and under budget, the new management team were ready for the additional space the Tyneside yard would give them. The management of the new company are committed to concentrating their efforts on fabrication work, converting vessels and outfitting modules for the offshore oil and gas industry as well as undertaking abandonment or decommissioning projects.

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Wellstream

Founded in 1989, Wellstream is a leading designer and manufacturer of high pressure unbonded flexible pipe and riser system solutions for the international oil and gas industry. The company has state of the art manufacturing facilities at its regional office in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK and also in Panama City, Florida, with a US regional office in Houston.

Suitable for a wide variety of off and onshore applications, the flexible pipe is widely used in subsea developments. In many instances, the pipe provides a more economic solution for total field development compared with more traditional technologies.

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