Subsea firm JFD secures diving system deal in China

A Scottish subsea operations firm has secured a multi-million-dollar contract through its Chinese joint venture.

JFD formed the joint venture with Wuhu Diving in December. Picture: Contributed

Inchinnan-based JFD, part of marine services firm James Fisher and Sons, said Wuhu Divex Diving Systems had won the deal with state-owned Shanghai Salvage.

Under the agreement, the joint venture will design and build a 12-man diving system to be used on the Chinese firm’s fleet which carries out salvage and subsea installation work. The contract, which will see the system delivered next year, is a follow-on agreement to a deal worth around £35 million which was awarded to JFD by Shanghai Salvage late last year.

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JFD, which also has a base in Aberdeen and is led by managing director Giovanni Corbetta, has worked with Shanghai Salvage for ten years.

It established a joint venture with the Wuhu Diving Equipment Factory in December last year.

The contract announcement came as Cumbria-based James Fisher, which owns a number of businesses in Scotland, reported underlying pre-tax profits rose by 11 per cent to £45.8m in 2016. Revenues increased by 6 per cent to £466m.

Chief executive Nick Henry said the figures reflected the “continued resilience of the James Fisher business model with its well-balanced spread of activities across the marine sector and international ­markets”.

“We have a positive view of the year ahead and are confident of potential to provide further growth and value for our shareholders,” he added.

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