Engineering news
Industry body, Subsea UK, is to establish a regional hub in the south of England in an attempt to bring together businesses across the subsea supply chain to identify opportunities and debate the challenges facing the sector.
Subsea UK will host its first south of England networking event in Gosport, Hampshire from 5th-6th November at the Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower.
The industry body said that there is a growing number of businesses in the region that are involved in the sector which covers underwater activity in relation to oil and gas, defence, oceanology and marine renewables. Subsea UK stressed the importance of the sector, which supports around 55,000 jobs and generates £9 billion to the UK economy.
Neil Gordon, chief executive of Subsea UK said: “The south of England is home to a huge amount of innovation and expertise, particularly in the areas of oil and gas. As an organisation covering the whole of the UK, we want to extend our support to these companies to exploit the potential to increase business at home and abroad, in what is a challenging time for the industry due to the drop in oil price.
“Oil and gas is by far and away the largest market for subsea companies but the sharp decline in commodity price is having an impact. Collaboration and driving efficiencies through new technology are critical in the current climate and the subsea sector must rise to the challenge of working together to discover and develop new solutions that will increase production and recovery of hydrocarbon reserves at lower cost.”
The event is part of a series of regional workshops organised by Subsea UK in the key areas across the UK where there are clusters of subsea business. Delegates will get the chance to visit the Saab Seaeye manufacturing base where they will gain an insight into how electric powered Remotely Operated Vehicles are designed, built and deployed.
They will also visit Magma Global, the Portsmouth based designer and manufacturer of high performance carbon fibre pipe for subsea oil and gas applications designed for use in deeper, more challenging waters.
Subsea UK is a self-sustaining body for the country’s subsea supply chain, representing more than 320 members.
The networking event will take place at the Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower. Tickets are £90 (+vat) for Subsea UK members and £108 (+vat) for non-members. For more information visit www.subseauk.com.