Reborn Vosper site gets a lift

After five years out of commission, Testbank Ship Repair and partners Trafalgar Wharf unveiled the refurbished Rolls Royce Syncrolift last month, one of the biggest of its kind in the south of England. This will help to step up the customer offering at the new facilities near Portsmouth harbour. The lift has a side transfer system, and rises at a stately rate of one foot per minute. But bringing it back in to service was no easy task. All the lift cables in each of the eight winches had to be replaced along with each and every bearing. The work took a dedicated team of 12 engineers and fitters around two months to complete. It is now ready and capable of handling a wide range of vessels, including superyachts, pilot boats, tugs, commercial ferries and naval ships.

The appropriate ‘cable cutting’ ceremony took place with sparks flying from an axle grinder (wielded by Dave Andrews, Testbank Ship Repair’s longest serving employee), while Jonny Boys, MD of Trafalgar Wharf, and Jason Coltman, MD of Testbank, looked on. Then guests watched the hull of the Serco Denholm vessel, ‘Teesdale’, being given a 6m vertical lift for repairs and inspection.

Mr Coltman said, ‘Before having the ship lift facility we were compelled to use other companies to slip our clients’ vessels, but now we can be a one stop shop for complete projects at our own location.’

The nearby shipbuilding shed is a cavernous 70,000 square feet and can take six ships at a time. It is well equipped with overhead craneage, compressed air, water and electricity throughout, as well as a 20m eave height to accommodate rigged vessels.

Trafalgar Wharf has been developing the ex-Vosper Thornycroft location in Portsmouth harbour since last September and 35 commercial tenants are now on site.

Mr Boys, said that the facility is ‘open to all’ and added that being able to work with Testbank ‘is excellent news for us and the site as a whole’.