Leading subsea training and trials centre, The Underwater Centre, has today (THURSDAY, JULY 5) signed a basic agreement with Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd in Japan to carry out a verification test of a prototype AUV equipped with a robot arm for subsea pipeline inspection.

Leading subsea training and trials centre, The Underwater Centre, located in the Scottish Highlands, has turned a corner after receiving industry support to secure its future.

The Underwater Centre, one of the world’s leading providers of subsea testing and training, based on the tidal waters of Loch Linnhe in Fort William, has successfully delivered two bespoke ROV and Hyperbaric System Acquaintance training courses as well as providing 19 days of operational support to JFD, part of James Fisher and Sons plc, as part of their training delivery to one of the world’s largest navies.

The Underwater Centre, a world leading provider of subsea testing and training, based on the tidal waters of Loch Linnhe in Fort William, has successfully supported the delivery of a complex Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) operational testing project in collaboration with Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd (KHI). This significant 15-day operational trial was planned for almost two years and involved the use of workshops, vessels, deep water test sites, ROVs and specialist support staff, amongst other assets.

Well-known for offering bespoke training in commercial diving and ROV operations to a range of clients worldwide, The Underwater Centre has recently noticed a real expansion in their client base for ROV training to companies outside the oil and gas sector.

Skills Development Scotland has awarded The Underwater Centre in Fort William funding to help ensure that Scotland is ready to supply the qualified workforce that the subsea industry will need in the future.

Subsea training facility, The Underwater Centre, has introduced a new hydraulics course which will provide candidates from a wide range of industries an introduction to fluid power systems. Hydraulics are an essential component of many industrial applications in manual and automated plant, from forestry, agriculture and marine engineering, to complex robotic and mechatronic systems. The Underwater Centre has developed the course to give candidates an introduction to the principles of fluid mechanics and provide hands-on experience using the Centre’s new training equipment.

Scottish subsea training facility, The Underwater Centre, has linked up with Bibby Offshore to provide ROV apprentices with the opportunity to gain practical hands-on experience, unavailable anywhere else in the world. The apprentices, who are employed by Bibby Offshore but are still too young to go offshore, will benefit from operational experience in the field with live ROVs and will undertake a wide variety of tasks including the mobilisation/demobilisation of the work class ROV

Tekmar Energy, which supplies cable protection systems (CPS) to the offshore windfarm industry, has successfully carried out a full-scale demonstration of its products at The Underwater Centre, the subsea training and trials facility based in Fort William The objective of the demonstration was to prove the ability to rapidly and reliably remove a CPS without the need for divers. This is particularly key for the future as offshore windfarm projects are being installed in increasingly deeper waters where diving becomes more dangerous and costly.

A team from the Royal New Zealand Navy has recently finished an intensive ROV training course, delivered by The Underwater Centre at the Naval Base at Devonport, New Zealand. The nine-day course focused on in-water operation training of the Saab Seaeye Falcon ROV, which is regularly used by the Navy for reconnaissance and security missions.

New modules will increase students’ employability. Subsea training facility, The Underwater Centre, is helping to increase its students’ employability in the downturn by adding new modules to its commercial air diving courses, offering an enhanced package which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

One of the world’s leading subsea training and trials facility, The Underwater Centre, has been identified as one of London Stock Exchange’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’. The report, which was launched at a special event in London, is a celebration of the UK’s fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium sized businesses. To be included in the list, companies needed to show consistent revenue growth over a minimum of three years, significantly outperforming their industry peers.

The award-winning subsea training and testing facility, The Underwater Centre, has added the FMC Schilling TITAN 4 syllabus to its current ROV training suite. The course familiarises candidates with all major components of the TITAN T4 manipulator and provides system operation and routine maintenance procedures. The Centre has adapted the course to offer extensive operational practice through specific activities designed to give candidates familiarity with the manipulator in use.

Subsea training facility, The Underwater Centre, is preparing for changes to the prerequisite requirements for experienced commercial air divers which will come in to play in April 2016

The course will form part of a module for students attending the one year Subsea Engineering MSc The Underwater Centre is working with Robert Gordon University (RGU)’s School of Engineering to incorporate a commercial diving familiarisation course as part of the recently introduced MSc in Subsea Engineering one year full time course.

A new model for increasing workforce competency in the ROV industry, using a realistic offshore instruction environment, has been unveiled by The Underwater Centre at the Subsea UK ROV conference in Aberdeen.

Stork to deliver ECITB certified MJI 21 bolt tensioning course Leading subsea training and trials facility, The Underwater Centre, is working in collaboration with Stork, global provider of knowledge-based asset integrity services focused on the oil & gas, chemical and power sectors, to deliver a brand new one-day certified course in bolt tensioning. The ECITB approved course, MJI 21 Hydraulically Tensioned Subsea Bolted Connections, addresses a key activity which every offshore construction diver should be familiar with and will be added to the Centre’s commercial diving training suite, firstly as a standalone course.

Students undertaking ROV training at the Fort William based subsea facility, The Underwater Centre, are to benefit from newly revamped courses providing even more contextual training modules. The Centre has been working with industry to identify areas of its ROV training suite which can be enhanced and courses for the remainder of 2015 will reflect this with major developments across the board. Students on the ROV Pilot Technician Course will benefit from entirely unique training elements including time on the Centre’s Loch Sunart ROV vessel and training in the ROV electrical and mechanical workshops, features unavailable at any other facility.