Tees Components grows share of marine defence market
Wednesday, 4th December 2019
Tees Components is growing its presence in the marine defence sector after recently completing projects for two globally renowned companies.
Tees Components are a family-run firm based at North Skelton, near Saltburn, undertook precision machining work on a submarine rescue system for a project being delivered by Sheffield-based Portobello RMF for Forum Energy Technologies (FET), the global oilfields and subsea technology company headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Tees Components was contracted by Portobello RMF to carry out precision machining work on the system’s components, sub-assemblies and assemblies to support an FET project commissioned by a navy in the Far East.
Designed and built specifically for the military market, FET’s submarine rescue vehicles are designed to free fly under battery power and are capable of diving to depths of 600 metres, exceeding the survival depth of many full-sized submarines.
Portobello RMF is a specialist high integrity fabricator, carrying out bespoke work for a range of applications using varied material combinations, including Incoloy, Duplex, Super Duplex, and Hastelloy. It is internationally recognised in the mechanical design and manufacture pressure vessels, heat exchangers and special fabrications for a diverse market including marine defence, oil & gas, petrochemicals and nuclear industries.
Tees Components has now worked with the company on a variety of projects in these fields, including the development of prototypes.
This project required a high degree of expertise from Tees Components’ machinists, as complex fabrications in these materials can often be unpredictable in terms of their movement during and after the machining processes.
An excellent relationship between the two companies has ensured consistent communication flow, which is essential when the machinist is removing metal at various stages of sub and final assemblies.
Contracts are typically overseen by a third party such as Lloyds Register of Shipping.
In addition, Tees Components has been awarded approved contractor status by David Brown Santasalo, one of the world’s leading mechanical power transmission brands, which operates across six continents.
The company provides assurance critical gearboxes for marine defence applications such as surface ships and submarines and is an expert in the design of quiet and lightweight transmission systems, which operate in some of the harshest and most demanding environments.
With highly skilled machine shop and quality engineers, in addition to the heavy investment in new machine tools and precision measurement equipment, Tees Components is ideally placed for finish machining of such products.
It has the capacity to handle up to 70 tonnes, turning up to 6.8m diameter, and milling up to 11m in length. Its six-acre site has one of the largest machining capacities in the UK, enabling the company to accommodate anything from multi-million-pound defence projects and offshore power generation, to local projects and one-off pressure testing.
Sharon Lane, Managing Director of Tees Components, said: “The company is gaining a growing reputation for reliability and excellence within the marine defence market and this reflects its growing diversification into a range of sectors, which also includes nuclear, renewables and decommissioning. Our management systems, including ICT, are well-established for security restricted contracts, and we continue to invest in our site security as we work towards achieving List X status.”
“Tees Components was selected by two internationally renowned companies for these projects because of its consistent reliability and quality service. In addition, being awarded approved contractor status by David Brown Santasalo is a huge vote of confidence in our capabilities and we look forward to establishing a long-term partnership.”
