Oil and gas engineering company EnerMech has clinched a deal to build and install hydraulic systems on a polar research vessel known to millions as Boaty McBoatface.
Aberdeen-headquartered EnerMech said it would spend about 18 months working on the £150million ship, which was commissioned by the National Environment Research Council.
EnerMech said it would have a team on-site at Cammell Laird’s Birkenhead shipyard, where the 420-ft long vessel is under construction.
The contract is understood to be worth a high six-figure sum to EnerMech, which employs more than 2,500 globally.
The ship, which will be operated by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), made headlines last year after a competition to suggest names for it was launched.
The name RRS Boaty McBoatface topped the poll with more than 124,000 votes, more than three times its nearest rival − but that name was vetoed.
The vessel, which has been likened to a huge floating laboratory, was eventually named after world-famous naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.
It is slated for commissioning in summer 2018, followed by extensive sea trials.
It will then set sail for its first Antarctic scientific voyage, taking place in 2019-20.
Neil McNaughton, technical support manager at EnerMech, said the company was delighted to be part of a “unique project”.
Mr McNaughton said the contract award underlined EnerMech’s ability to work in a wide range of sectors out with oil and gas.
He said: “We will be working in close contact with Cammell Laird and other main contractors including Rolls-Royce, to ensure that the vessel’s hydraulic systems conform to the exacting operational requirements of BAS and the Natural Environment Research Council, who have commissioned the build of this vessel.”
EnerMech expects its global revenues to hit £350million this year, against £264.5million last year, thanks to its focus on “international markets and divergence into new sectors”.
The firm recently took over EPS Group, which has bases in Australia and the US, in an effort to gain a foothold in the electrical and instrumentation market.
EnerMech, which is backed by a banking syndicate and private-equity firm Lime Rock Partner, said in April that it had secured more than £40million worth of contracts in the Caspian region.
A month later, the company said it had struck a deal to supply up to 70 offshore crane operators in Malaysia.
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