Dorset’s Intermarine UK lands steel fabrication deal to increase capacity at Portland Port
Maritime engineering company Intermarine UK has been selected to take part in a major infrastructure project designed to increase capacity at Portland Port in Dorset, the company said in its release.
The firm operates a 2,400sqm fabrication and welding facility at the port on England’s south coast, which it opened in 2018 following a £750,000 investment. Acting as a subcontractor for project lead CMP Thames Ltd, Intermarine UK has been tasked with fabricating a number of steel structures that will extend the mooring capacity of Queen’s Pier by 40 metres in order to accommodate the growing number of vessels visiting the port.
A change in the nature of shipping at Portland Port has driven significant infrastructure investment over recent years. The port’s cruise business is continuing to grow, while cargo customers have also seen an increase in activity. Work to further extend Queen’s Pier is the latest project designed to support the site’s continued growth.
Intermarine UK’s steel fabrications will form part of a new mooring dolphin at the end of the pier that will create a facility for berthing vessels up to 230 metres long with drafts up to 10.5 metres.
Since establishing a production base at Portland Port in 2018, Intermarine UK has spent in excess of £750,000 equipping the site with state-of-the-art machinery. This investment has allowed the company to expand the range of engineering and fabrication services it offers to the UK’s ship repair, refit, conversion and shipbuilding markets.
The firm played a central role in the assembly of Britain’s two new aircraft carriers, HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH and HMS PRINCE OF WALES, and recently completed construction of a floating platform for the British Royal Navy that will allow crew and passengers to board and disembark from the rear of these ships. In 2018, Intermarine UK signed a six-figure contract with Merseyside shipyard Cammell Laird to fabricate more than ten tons of piping systems for the RRS Sir David Attenborough polar ship, Britain’s biggest commercial ship building project in more than 30 years.
In June Intermarine UK announced it had struck a new agreement with Chinese manufacturer Shandong Pure Ocean Technology to make the Port of Portland one of the UK’s centres for ‘scrubber’ installation. Acting as an agent to Shandong, it will offer to install its scrubber systems to a wide variety of vessels including container ships, ferries and fishing boats, to help them meet tough new environmental regulations.
PORTLAND PORT
Portland is a commercial port located in Dorset on the UK’s south coast. Portland Port operated as a base for the Royal Navy for nearly 150 years from the mid 19th century through to 1996 when Portland Port was then privatised and taken over by the Langham Group. Portland Harbour Authority later took over as the statutory harbour authority in 1998. Since then the harbour has developed into commercial port, that handles cruise ships, cargos, bunker vessels and also maintains a strong relationship with the Royal Navy and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Under the umbrella of the Portland Port Group are two separate entities: Portland Port Ltd and Portland Harbour Authority Ltd.
