STAFF and management at UK Docks’ Teesside facility are celebrating a record-breaking year for the number of ships serviced and repaired.
More than 30 vessels have been successfully worked on in the shipyard’s two dry docks and heavy lift repair quay throughout 2023
Among them were the Royal Navy’s only icebreaker, HMS Protector, former Royal Fleet Auxiliary Tristram, (now a training vessel), as well as Transport For London’s Dame Vera Lynn and Ben Woollacott, the Trinity House Patricia, the UKD Marlin, various North Star and Putford vessels and several Svitzer Tugs.
Jonathan Wilson, MD of UK Docks, said: “We’re delighted to have had such a productive year.
“This is exactly what we hoped for when we first re-opened the docks in 2014 after they’d been derelict for more than two decades.
“What’s pleasing is the variety of vessels we worked on over the last 12 months, as well as the number of them, and that’s testimony to the skills and versatility of the team.”
HMS Protector, an essential part of the Royal Navy’s global reach, visited Teesside twice over the course of the year - once for a comprehensive drydock package, and then again later in the year to carry out essential repairs to its main engine and drivetrain, with more than 300 individual work packages being completed on time and on budget.
Commercial ship repair was equally busy with several Teesside and London-based Svitzer tugs, Trinity House vessel Patricia and Transport for London ferries Dave Vera Lynn and Ben Woollacott, which operate on the River Thames at Woolwich, coming in for their first five-year service and docking.
The year has been completed with extensive work on UKD Marlin, Putford Phoenix and an unplanned docking of PD Ports’ Heortnesse.
Those works marked a record-breaking number of vessels handled by the busy yard in a single year.
The Tees shipyard director Stuart Syvret said:: “Our growth in 2023 underpins the commitment and ongoing investment to improve the Teesside facility.
“We have two operational drydocks supported by a heavy lift afloat repair berth, fully equipped steel and engineering workshops and two modern 30-tonne Shoreside cranes.
“We also have a highly-skilled project management team, workforce and trusted subcontract supply chain ensuring, whether works are scheduled or unscheduled, we can react and deliver complex engineering activities in both commercial and Ministry of Defence sectors.”
The yards, on Dockside Road, in Teesport Commerce Park, now perform a significant role in the Tees Valley supply chain and local economy.
UK Docks would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers in 2023 for the work supplied to our teams. We wish them all a happy, safe and prosperous 2024.