Swire Oilfield Services, a leading supplier of specialist offshore cargo carrying units (CCU), is defying market conditions by establishing Aberdeen, UK, as a Centre of Excellence for its Cargo Carrying business with a £750,000 investment, creating five jobs.
Work has already begun on the new paint curing facility at the company’s fleet refurbishment workshop in Aberdeen. The three acre site is scheduled for completion on 1 December and once fully operational, personnel including shot blasters and painters will be hired to service the new hub.
The workshop will complement Swire’s existing £1.4 million workshop which was opened in August 2008. The site was constructed to accommodate increasing demands for CCU refurbishment of the company’s UK-based and supported rental units, allowing Swire’s experienced and skilled employees to repair, weld and paint its extensive UK fleet from a single location.
The paint curing service centre will use the latest generation of gas catalytic infra red heaters to reduce paint curing times and ensure the most effective paint coating life is delivered. It will also increase Swire’s workshop capacity, allowing the company to add to its own maintenance regime as part of its commitment to continually improving all areas of its business. Swire can also extend its ability to work with customers who operate their own fleet of units, allowing them to cost effectively maintain their units to the highest standards as part of a managed programme.
In line with the company’s focus on safety, its concreting of the entire workshop yard will have substantial benefits for the operation of fork-lifts and will align Aberdeen with Swire’s other bases.
This investment is part of the Swire’s constant push for development during the current economic downturn. The company recently acquired Australia based Weir OCI which took investment in the region to more than £15 million in the past year.
Rupert Bray, Swire Oilfield Services general manager, said: “We are entering a new phase of rapid expansion and this investment will support our overseas growth, as well as our ongoing operations in the North Sea sector. The funds outlaid in the past 13 months shows we are committed to the North East and see it as an integral part of our core business.”
Swire Oilfield Services operations manager UK, Andy Yule, added: “Safety and quality are of the utmost importance to us and the working environment on our operating bases sends this strong message to our employees and our customers. Investing in the base infrastructure not only provides a safer and more efficient work space but also ensures we can provide rental units of the highest quality to meet our customers’ expectations.”