Ashtead Technology Announces €3.1 million Investment in iXBlue Equipment

Leading international subsea equipment specialist Ashtead Technology, which is headquartered in Aberdeen, has placed an order in excess of €1.1 million with subsea manufacturer iXBlue at the Oceanology exhibition in London.

The investment in iXBlue's high-precision inertial navigation ROVINS, PHINS and new OCTANS NANO systems is the latest in a series of investments by Ashtead Technology, increasing the company's expansive rental fleet of subsea positioning equipment.

iXBlue's expertise in fiber optic gyroscopes and underwater acoustic technology enables Ashtead Technology to offer underwater positioning solutions capable of delivering the highest accuracy even in the most extreme conditions. This latest order increases investment in iXBlue products to €3.1 million in the last year to support current and future market demand.

The proven ROVINS and PHINS are full featured inertial navigation systems which see high demand in the marketplace. PHINS, one of the most accurate INS systems currently available, incorporates iXBlue's fiber optic gyroscope technology and outputs position, attitude and velocity data to extremely high levels of accuracy.

The new OCTANS NANO is the world's smallest and most adept state of the art 4000m depth rated attitude and heading and reference system (AHRS). Ashtead Technology is the first company to offer the system on a rental basis and foresees strong market demand for the new market leading product.

Allan Pirie, chief executive of Ashtead Technology said: "The latest order of iXBlue equipment continues our investment strategy in market leading technology and we are delighted to be working with iXBlue in launching their new OCTANS NANO for which we expect strong rental market demand."

Commenting on the significant order, Olivier Cervantes, EMEA, LATAM VP Sales and Marketing of iXBlue said "iXBlue appreciates Ashtead Technology's long-term trust and investment in our products. Their recent order including OCTANS Nano is testimony to the continuity of our trusted relationship. It also demonstrates Ashtead Technology's commitment to leading edge technology and innovative solutions that brings robust performance, safety, and differentiation to their end customers".