Maritime Developments celebrates 15 years in business

From servicing fishing boats in Peterhead Harbour to equipping oil and gas vessels around the globe, it’s been a journey that has taken Maritime Developments to the forefront of marine solutions providers for the global energy sector.

Over its 15 years of trading, the company has had to respond to changing fortunes across two sectors: the downturn in the fishing industry, followed by the challenge of building a reputation in the highly competitive oil and gas market.

Strengthened by these challenges and experiences, Maritime Developments is enjoying its best trading year to date.

Today, its offering encompasses cutting-edge equipment and a growing fleet of flexlay equipment – for a portfolio of clients featuring some of the biggest names in the global contracting market.

With sites in Peterhead and Aberdeen and a staff of more than 50, the back-deck equipment manufacturer has built on the skills and expertise forged in the marine environment to address the current and future needs of the oil and gas and renewables sectors.

“We started off fixing boats and kitting them out, and eventually orders started coming from oil and gas firms,” said Derek Smith, Maritime Developments’ founder and chief executive.

“We designed and built power packs, reel drive systems and complete tensioners, which went out to work under our clients’ branding.

“It wasn’t until 2010 that the first major job came through from a leading subsea business and we began to put Maritime Developments’ plaques on the machinery that we had been building for the previous six years.

“Four years later, we have invested over £2.5million to build a reel drive and a tensioner for our own equipment fleet. We’ve come a long way – and we plan to keep going.”

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