Walker Marine Design Appoints US Agent

Naval architect firm Walker Marine Design (WMD) has signed Rockledge Marine Services as its agent for the U.S. offshore wind market.

According to WMD, the partnership has come at a perfect time as the offshore wind industry in the U.S. is expected to significantly develop over the next few years.

“We have comprehensive experience in the marine engineering and manufacturing industry and are extremely excited to be officially working with WMD,” said Jim Cutts, Engineering and Business Development Director for Rockledge Marine Services.

The UK-based WMD said the U.S. market is its next business step after it had already had two boats built in Asia, with a third one currently under construction.

“The wind farm sector is a fast-establishing market in America, so having a representative like Rockledge is a big advantage for us,” said Nikki Walker, Business Development Director of WMD.

“We feel our designs, already well-proven within Europe will be ideal for the US market and as such we have been speaking with Jim for over a year about this partnership and it’s great to have him on board with the WMD team.”

WMD recently provided the design of Manor Renewable Energy’s (MRE) second wind farm service vessel (WFSV), sister to Manor Venture.

The vessel, being constructed at MRE’s fabrication and engineering facility in Portland, UK, is expected to be delivered in the latter part of 2019.