Seawork International, the marine industry’s dedicated showcase for the commercial marine and workboat markets., closed its doors this evening on a high note with confirmation of one of the marine industry’s largest single investments of the year.
The exhibition provided a unique combination of undercover exhibition space, open air demonstrations and floating displays, all occurring in the waterfront atmosphere of Southampton’s Mayflower Park.
The investment was confirmed by exhibitor, Southampton=based CJR Propulsion by announcing the installation of £4million of new manufacturing equipment at its Southampton facility.
Representing one of the marine industry’s largest single investments of 2018, the newly commissioned apparatus, and related software, will integrate seamlessly with CJR’s existing computational fluid dynamics department and according to the firm will create an end-to-end, data-driven design and manufacturing process, boasting high levels of automation.
The company hopes the new equipment will help position the company as one of the world’s most technically advanced propulsion experts and, over time, help improve quality and efficiency standards across the industry, as CJR Propulsion’s managing director, Mark Russell, explaineds:
“On a recent project, the customer estimated they will save ten percent on their annual fuel bill because of our props, so there are real, tangible benefits for boat builder or end user. We also know we can cut the time from initial contact to delivery by over 60 percent on new projects, without adding anything to the final cost so, across the board, this is great news for all our clients.”
To house the new equipment, CJR Propulsion has acquired an adjacent facility to its Southampton works, increasing its manufacturing space by more than 50 percent. The company is also providing existing staff with the opportunity to retrain to ensure the increased levels of automation doesn’t result in job losses.
The exhibition itself was opened by UK Maritime Minister, Nusrat Ghani. and covered 18,000m² of undercover space spread over two purpose-built exhibition halls, purpose built pontoons for more than 70 vessels and floating exhibits, providing demonstrations out on the water, quayside area for trailers, large exhibits and outdoor demonstrations and conference and meeting facilities.
