OIL service business Kongsberg Maritime is to open a new training centre for clients in the north-east.
It has taken a five-year lease on the premises at Arnhall Business Park, Westhill, which will replace smaller premises at Bridge of Don.
The site represents a seven-figure investment for Kongsberg Maritime and will feature more than 5,000 square feet of dedicated training facilities. The business said it would be the largest marine-training centre of its type in the Aberdeen area.
The facility, due to open this summer, will lead to additional jobs, although no exact figures have been announced yet.
Turnover at the new centre in the first year is projected to be more than £700,000.
Dave Shand, the firm’s general manager for offshore, said: “The decision to seek additional training space was driven by significant growth in market demand for training on Kongsberg Maritime equipment. The new centre will allow our throughput of trainees to treble.
“In our current premises we provide training in dyna-mic positioning and hydro-acoustic positioning, but the new centre will give us the space to offer a much broader portfolio of courses in special-ist areas such as multibeam, marine automation, process automation and safety systems.”
The Kongsberg group employs about 145 people in the north-east.