Red7Marine Invests £5m in First Major Vessel (UK)

Red7Marine’s newly-acquired offshore support vessel DP Reel has sailed into Great Yarmouth port to mark a milestone moment for the rapidly growing company.

The £5m investment means the highly versatile vessel will be available to support work for clients in the renewable energy and oil & gas sectors.

It comes less than three years after Red7Marine (R7M) was created by Norfolk-based Anglian Marine Services and Haven Ports (Marine and Constructions Management), of Manningtree, joining forces.

And it’s the latest feather in the cap of a company which saw turnover leap from £6m to £24m in the three years to 2010 with its workforce growing from 45 to 125-strong, plus 60 sub-contract divers.

“The acquisition means we have achieved our primary objective to own and operate a fully-mobilised UK-based DPII offshore support vessel,” said R7M’s director Mike Jones, at the company’s diving and subsea division base in Lefevre Way, Great Yarmouth.

“In the past we have operated other companies’ DPII class vessels to support our work but we always recognised the importance of securing our own vessel so we can control costs better and provide a more precise and efficient service to clients.

“Our intention is to continue raising standards in an industry where we are providing our own specialist services in offshore construction, diving, cable laying, ROV and deep water drilling support. The DP Reel will help significantly in that objective,” he added.

Mr Jones said there were already half a dozen clients with work waiting for the vessel. As soon as essential deck refurbishment work was finished, she would be sailing off for her first job.

She is being fitted with a comprehensive offshore diving system and survey suite, to meet International Marine Contractors Association standards, and can operate in water depth as shallow as 6m, ideal for supporting cable laying. She can also support diving operations in 10m+ water depth and, being equipped with powerful propulsion systems, is ideal for handling aggressive and unpredictable tidal flows around the UK territorial waters.

The 91m x 18 m vessel arrived in Great Yarmouth from a previous base in Italy.

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Source: red7marine, May 10, 2011