HamiltonJet increases manufacturing footprint by a third

HamiltonJet, a regular Seawork exhibitor, will boost its production capacity by 40% with the new extension, which brings its manufacturing footprint to 22,500m².

The new facility incorporates dedicated production lines for both small and large waterjets, purpose-built with LED lighting, solar panels, and heat-recovery systems. The layout has been optimised for lean, linear manufacturing, enabling faster assembly, reduced lead times, and greater flexibility to meet complex customer specifications.

More than 450 people attended the official opening, including the government’s minister for Building & Construction and HamiltonJet’s global leadership team.

HamiltonJet has come far in a business sense despite not having moved since the 1950s when it was set up at its existing site.

It now calls itself a world leader in propulsion systems, selling its products in more than 70 countries across navies, coastguards, commercial ferries, wind farm support vessels and hybrid craft.

“With 97 per cent of our products sold overseas, this positions HamiltonJet to respond quickly to market opportunities, including growing demand in defence, hybrid marine technology, and wind farm support,” said managing director Ben Reed.

“We offer 18 different sizes of waterjets, ranging from small 270kW to large 5,500kW jets, meeting the needs of patrol boats, landing craft, ferries and hybrid vessels. Our offering is unique in that we design, cast, machine, fabricate, paint and assemble our waterjets entirely in-house. This comprehensive capability gives us complete control over quality and performance and allows us to deliver technology efficiently to customers worldwide.”

While this is a significant expansion, the company is already looking to increase its size even more, with space available for another factory of the same size on the Christchurch site, it says.