Taking vessel repair to vessels

The Tees based ‘Afloat’ team, a 24/7 repair service available to shipping agents, ship managers and ship owners, has experienced 265% growth in its turnover since 2010 and is now servicing up to 20 vessels per month, in locations across the UK. The team’s reputation for high calibre marine engineering expertise has also resulted in call outs to Croatia and Norway.

Headed up by Sally Weston, the Afloat team is taking skills developed in the Teesside shipping industry to marine sector customers up and down the British coastline and has brought in project work worth upwards of £1million in the 2014 / 2015 financial year.

The Afloat team uses a subcontractor network to provide experienced marine engineers, lifting specialists, mechanical fitters, welders, electricians and other skilled tradesmen to attend damaged vessels or vessels in need of fast turnaround maintenance and repair work within hours of a customer call.

Engineers can attend to vessels when they are berthed but are also able to complete jobs when ships are on the move, through their dedicated ‘riding squads’. During the last 12 months, projects have included work on tankers, offshore supply vessels, wind farm installation vessels; car and bulk carriers as well as a range of smaller vessels. The team also undertakes mobilisations / demobilisations on and off site, reacting accordingly to customer requirements.

The team is now aiming to increase awareness of its capabilities as a catalyst for further growth that it hopes will help to underpin the success of A&P Tees and support the regional subcontractor economy.

Mike Wappett, General Manager of A&P Tees explained, “We have the management experience, facilities and subcontractor infrastructure to enable us to get the right engineers to our clients’ vessels wherever they may be and our feedback tells us that we are providing turn-around times and service levels that put us ahead of the competition.”

Sally Weston, Afloat Services Co-Ordinator added, “Our region is known for its marine related activity and a major part of Afloat’s success is our ability to be able to call upon a rich pool of subcontractor talent from the North East. We look forward to being able to feed more work into the regional supplier chain as we continue to grow our presence in the marketplace and win additional work.”

By Jake Frith