The Port of Blyth is really buzzing right now: regular ship arrivals, thriving marine, offshore and subsea engineering firms (including IHC, Osbit and DeepOcean), the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult…..and now Newcastle University!
Today I arrived early to work and was perfectly timed to see DeepOcean’s Havila Phoenix sailing into berth on the North Pier. Ten minutes of freezing cold movie making, plus a handy google auto-video, resulted in a nice little montage – see the instagram post here:
As a bonus the EDT Jane with an Ulstein X-Bow is also in port. Two ships for the price of one! If you squint you can also see the Maersk Connector and the IHC J-Lay tower further up the river.
Both the Jane and Havila Phoenix are offshore support vessel used for all sorts of subsea operations. For the naval architects and offshore engineering students I recommend spotting the equipment carried – ROVs, A-Frames, trenching machines, carousels for pipelay (although not at the moment)…….the list goes on. The “exam-question” – what do they do?
The exciting part of being located in Port of Blyth is that the engineering firms next door are designing, fabricating and installing these complex pieces of offshore equipment. They are also big employers of our students. Just from memory I have counted over 10 graduates who headed to IHC, Osbit and DeepOcean over the last 3 years – and there will be plenty of people I missed. Not bad for a graduating cohort of about 60!
And before you ask – I am working on arranging student visits to get on-board……