North-east company Divex said yesterday it had won a contract to supply the Russian admiralty with a saturation-diving system worth more than £10million.
The system will be installed in a partnership between the Westhill firm and Russian partner Tetis Pro on rescue ship Igor Belousov, due to be commissioned into the Russian navy in 2014.
The system accommodates 12 divers in saturation, allowing three-man bell excursions to depths of 450 msw to gain access to a stricken submarine.
It also accommodates up to 60 rescued submariners in the chamber complex in the event that they require decompression following rescue.
The system includes four accommodation chambers arranged around a central “transfer-under-pressure” chamber where the divers don their diving equipment and access the diving bell.
These four chambers accommodate the divers at their equivalent working pressure, and provide decompression facilities for the rescued submariners.
Divex, who have built 100 major saturation diving systems since 1974, are to split manufacturing of the facility between two of their global locations.
The system decompression chambers, diving bell and control system will be built in Divex facilities in Perth, Western Australia while the bell deployment, life support and gas management systems will be manufactured and supplied from Divex headquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland.
The Igor Belousov is planned to be commissioned into the Russian Navy in 2014.
The need for such a vessel was emphasised by the Kursk tragedy in 2000.
Divex joint managing director, Doug Godsman, travelled to Moscow to sign the contract and was met by his Russian counterpart Alexander Delyanov of Tetis Pro wearing a kilt in honour of the Russian / Scottish collaboration on this project.
He said: “This is a prestigious project award for Divex and is testament to our design flexibility and track record in producing both commercial and military technical diving systems.
“We look forward to working with our Russian partners Tetis Pro and their client, the Russian Navy, on this project.
“The vessel will, on completion, offer a lifesaving capability in the event of a submarine accident and our employees can take pride in their endeavours to this end.”