New vision for Fort William dive school
HIE says there is ‘considerable interest’ in centre
The Underwater Centre in Fort William has attracted ‘considerable interest’, according to Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), after the develpment agency has laid out a new vision to help find a buyer for the centre.
The move follows the closure of the subsea training facility on Loch Linnhe, which entered administration last month.
HIE has been leading efforts to build on the area’s reputation for subsea training and testing services and the associated economic activities locally.
The agency has now developed a ‘concept for industry’ with support from the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Funding Council and industry bodies.
This is now being disseminated among industry body members for the consideration of potential investors.
Its aim is to help the successful bidder establish a commercially viable business that serves the oil and gas, offshore renewables, aquaculture, defence and other subsea sectors.
Audrey MacIver, HIE’s director of energy and low carbon, said: ‘A world-class facility that meets the changing and future requirements of industries would build on the foundations and reputation the area has, thanks to The Underwater Centre. Not surprisingly, there appears to be a lot of interest in the centre’s assets.
‘We are now able to present potential investors with the concept for a subsea campus. This would have strong links across industry, academia and the public sector in a way that meets the changing needs of the subsea sectors.’
A key feature of the concept is collaboration, with strong links between industry, academia and the public sector to accelerate and reduce the overall costs of essential testing, trialling and demonstration activities.
Neil Gordon, chief executive of Subsea UK, welcomed HIE’s announcement and said the importance of The Underwater Centre to the North Sea, as one of only two in the world which provides closed bell diver training, ‘cannot be underestimated’.
He added: ‘We hope that this concept and the considerable interest from private firms can be turned into a sustainable underwater campus which will continue to provide the highest standards of training and test facilities, vital to safe and effective underwater operations in oil and gas, offshore renewables, defence and ocean science.’
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