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Seawork 'growing 30% a year'
01 Jul 2005
THE must-visit marine trade show that now blurs the line between commercial and leisure marine Seawork 2005 International was quite a success, according to the 350+ exhibitors. The show is growing at 30% a year, according to the organisers, Mercator Media, and with the final audit still to be completed, initial counts indicate the show attracted over 5,000 buyers and decision makers from across the industry.
And the Tuesday night's Gala Dinner was another sellout with over 500 sitting down at the St Mary's stadium for an excellent meal and an afterdinner stand up routine from Adger Brown.
The DiveWork section - in its second year - was more than 150% bigger than last year, featuring around 25 companies from the commercial diving sector.
Roger O'Kane of the Association of Diving Contractors was the guiding light behind DiveWork with support from members and a 30,000 litre dive tank on the quayside, provided by Searchwise of Aberdeen, with an almost constant programme of product tests and health and safety demonstrations.
The on-water section had 57 vessels from more than 14 countries. The pontoon layout was changed over last year's show and had a central pedestrian access point, creating a hammerhead of pontoons. The total length of vessels on the pontoons exceeding 600 metres - substantially longer than the Queen Mary , it says here. . .
Our picture shows perhaps the most diverse fleet of workboats ever assembled at a European working vessel event, with every craft able to provide demonstrations in the working environment of a major seaport.
The list of craft on show was headed by the Spirit of Portsmouth , a working ferry built by VT Halmatic, 32m in length and seating up to 200 passengers. Over 20 craft were in excess of 10m in length with configurations as diverse as the 26m Shoalbuster Tug from Damen Shipyards in Holland and the 12.9m STAB 38i exhibited by FB Design SRL, described as a combination of conventional hull and a RIB.
For many exhibitors, the good weather saw many boats continually engaged on speed and working trials; a number of deposits have been secured and most exhibitors reckoned they would see substantial business concluded later this year.
Over 20 RIBs joined the RIB Work section of the show on the pontoons, with examples of the breed right up to the Delta 19m model.
Business was brisk, with orders being placed with firsttimers Rib-X receiving a £25,000 contract in the show's first hour.
Seawork Quotes
The best show we've ever had. It's generated loads of enquiries and we'll be back next year.
Sian Mathias, Ali-it Marine.
More business, more orders, stronger enquiries this year. The right venue for show-casing our new products.
Linda Diamond, Jotun Paints
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