Business briefs: Rolls Royce do the double | Shell and Wood Group deal

ENGINEERING firm Rolls-Royce passed two milestones yesterday as it delivered the first of a new kind of ship and started work on its latest factory.

The company said it had delivered the platform supply vessel Island Crusader, the first Rolls-Royce ship to be powered by gas. It also began construction of a state-of-the-art “advanced blade casting facility” in Rotherham, which will make strengthened turbine blades and employ 150 people.

Shell picks Wood Group for US deal

WOOD Group has won a contract to provide oil giant Shell with engineering and management services for its US operations.

The multi-year contract covers Shell’s pipeline and terminal projects throughout the Gulf Coast region.

Aberdeen-based Wood said yesterday that projects will include gas and liquid pipelines and all related facilities, such as pump and compressor stations, meter stations and dehydration units. Work has already begun at facilities in Louisiana and Texas.

Steve Knowles, president of Wood’s Mustang subsidiary, which will carry out the work, said: “I believe our full-service pipeline capabilities will provide excellent project support to Shell.”

The company did not put a value on the contract.