Intermarine UK Lands RRS Sir David Attenborough Polar Ship Contract

Maritime engineering company Intermarine UK has landed a contract from Cammell Laird shipyard on Merseyside to supply the £160million RRS Sir David Attenborough polar ship.

Intermarine UK won the deal worth several hundred thousand pounds from Cammell Laird to fabricate more than ten tons of piping systems and provide combining equipment to Britain’s biggest commercial ship building project in more than 30 years (see notes to editors 1).

The 128 meters long ship has been commissioned by Natural Environment Research Council NERC and will be operated by British Antarctic Survey. The ship was formerly launched at Cammell Laird by Sir David Attenborough in July and is due to begin science expeditions in 2019.

Porland Port in Dorset.

Inter Marine Group President Slawomir Kalicki said the fabrication work took place at the company’s new 2000sqm fabrication and welding facility at Portland Port in Dorset, UK (see notes to editors 2) which opened in January creating up to 60 new jobs for local people in the next two years.

"We are absolutely delighted to win this work from Cammell Laird which is leading the renaissance of British shipbuilding,” he said. “This is just the type and size of business we want to service from our new facility in the Port of Portland. The RRS Sir David Attenborough polar ship is a massive project to be involved with and we are very pleased to bring our extensive skills, expertise and experience of fabrication of pipe systems to the job.”

RRS Sir David Attenborough ready to launch.

Mr. Kalicki said Intermarine UK signed a 20-year lease in January to move its UK head office from Bridgend to Portland Port, a former naval base and the second largest man-made harbor in the world. The company will start operations from February in Portland with the Sir David Attenborough being its inaugural contract.

“As with Cammell Laird we are looking to work with shipyards around the UK offering a range of engineering services,” he said. “We see huge potential in Portland Port as one of the best located ports in Britain. Furthermore, we see there is a strong skills base in the region and we are actively looking to employ local skilled maritime engineers and encourage workers to get in touch.”

Mr. Kalicki said Intermarine UK has bought a variety of new equipment for the facility including CNC machines, laser cutters and steel production machinery.

“The Inter Marine Group draws on nearly 30-years’ experience in the maritime industry and ten years working in maritime engineering,” he said. “We work with shipyards across the UK and we have worked on big projects like the QUEEN ELIZABETH class aircraft carrier program. We plan to use all that expertise and our new facility here at Portland to catapult our services further into the wider UK maritime industry.”