AGILITY AND INNOVATION PUTS A&P GROUP ON TRACK FOR A STRONG 2018.

A&P Group’s 2018 has been one of agility and innovation, according to Managing Director of Atlantic and Peninsular Marine Services, David McGinley.

Since the start of the year, A&P Group has managed a number of commercial projects which showcase the breadth of size, scale, and scope of works that the global ship repair, conversion and marine specialist delivers.

Over the last eight months A&P Group has secured its first commercial partnership with Condor Ferries, provided remote upgrade and maintenance support to the GMS Endeavour in Blyth and also docked four sister ships with 24 hours in-between scheduled departures and arrivals for a large European customer.

Other works have included carrying out the annual repair of P&O Ferries’ Pride of York, flexible lay tower remove and storage for Subsea Seven, walk to work mobilisations and demobilisations for TSG Marine, ballast water treatment projects for James Fisher’s Sarnia Liberty and dry-dockings for both ABC Maritime and Hansa Heavy Lift.

David McGinley, Managing Director Atlantic and Peninsular Marine Services, said: “Since the start of 2018 we have seen an 18% uplift in the volume of work across all four of our UK facilities and have a strong order book that suggests this trend will continue until the end of the year. In the North East in particular, we’re seeing increased activity and confidence in the renewables and offshore markets, with a healthy pipeline of enquiries and Falmouth is preparing for a busy ferry season with Condor Ferries, Red Funnel, Wightlink and Torpoint Ferries amongst others.

“Overall, the market is improving and there’s renewed confidence all round. Clients want less surprise from their dockings and more predictability for their schedules and budgets and this was the driving force behind the development of our first commercial partnership agreement scheme with Condor. By using our forward planning skills to gain an-in-depth knowledge of vessels, it is possible to take a more innovative and agile approach to giving clients efficiency, cost savings and budget security and we expect this to be very well received by the wider commercial marine market.

“Looking ahead, we are set to build even greater agility and flexibility into our operations and to collaborate with customers more fully, starting with using our expertise to help them write vessels’ project specifications.”

A&P Group operates seven dry docks across four strategic locations in the UK and delivers global engineering excellence to the commercial shipping, marine, offshore wind, oil and gas, civil nuclear and defence industries. All facilities combine a rich heritage of marine engineering skills and experience, providing ship owners and energy companies with all the precision skills needed to complete the most demanding projects.