Kilkeel-based marine services provider SeaSource Offshore has expanded its operations into the Bay of Biscay off the west coast of France after being awarded a contract by French energy firm ENGIE worth £9 million.
It further underlines how Kilkeel - where the town’s harbour now employs 1,000 people - is reinventing itself as a marine services hub, with its the fishing community having innovated by using its fleet to build a different type of business.
SeaSource, which has turned over more than £100m since its inception 12 years ago, provides guard vessels as well as survey and crew vessels for offshore commercial developments, including the installation of wind turbines and cable-laying on the seabed.
It is now assisting in the installation of an offshore substation to process electricity generated by wind turbines before being cabled to shore, where it joins the French national grid.
The company’s chief executive Brian Chambers says the contract is clear evidence of its reputation as an international class marine services firm.
“In the last two years we have been winning similar contracts for offshore renewable energy developers in the English Channel off the coast of France,” he said.
“This Yeu-Noirmoutier project, which is not far from the mouth of the Loire River on the Atlantic littoral, takes us further than we have ever been.”
SeaSource Offshore recently added new vessels to 35-strong fleet, converting fishing boats which can now operated on dual functions for fishing and marine servicing.
“Kilkeel’s fishing fleet was under intense pressure following years of restrictive fishing quotas, and as a collective group with help from Invest NI we created SeaSource Offshore to sweat our assets,” Mr Chambers adds.
“The expertise of our boat owners and fishers and their knowledge of the sea and the seabed was quickly converted into a valuable asset we could shape and refine for use in the other parts of the marine economy including cable-laying and wind turbine installation.
In order to continue growing the business, SeaSource Offshore now recruits skilled fishermen and women on local vessels across Europe.
“This guarantees to give us the most knowledgeable and properly equipped crew, which in turn benefits the local economy and provides us with the best value for money,” he said.
