Marine / Delta Marine taken over by French firm
ISLES workboat company Delta Marine has been bought by French firm JIFMAR Offshore Services.
It is the end of the working line for previous owner Bob Spanswick, who said that the only thing to change about the company was the owner.
Seventy-year-old Spanswick said that it was time to retire after setting up Delta Marine 35 years ago along with partner Peter Griffiths.
Since then the company has gone on to operate globally and was notably involved in the salvage of the massive liner Costa Concordia which struck rocks and sank off the coast of Italy in 2012.
With two DP multicats in its fleet of workboats and anchor handling vessels, Delta Marine advertises itself as specialising in offshore wind and tidal energy installations.
The acquisition strengthens JIFMAR’s hand in Scotland as it took over Oban based North West Marine last year.
JIFMAR will now operate a fleet of nearly 40 vessels worldwide and reinforce its “leading position” in servicing the renewable and fish farming industries – the two areas in which Delta Marine is strongly active.
Chairman of JIFMAR Offshore Services Jean-Michel Berud said: “With VOE Earl being the most powerful DP multicat currently on the market and the specific design of VOE Vanguard, we will be in a position to expand the range of services offered to our clients”.
With the fleets of Delta Marine and North West Marine, the group is now operating nine vessels under the Scottish flag.
The company expects “strong synergies” between North West Marine’s 27 years of experience as a diving contractor, the state-of-the-art vessels from Delta Marine and the engineering support of JIFMAR Offshore Services.
Delta Marine chief executive Dave McNaughtan said: “With JIFMAR’s well known engineering capabilities, we will now be in a position to offer a broader range of services to our clients”.
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