Owner says Swan Hunter still has future in the North

Nov 30 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

THE owner of Swan Hunter has rubber-stamped the end of the company’s 150 years of shipbuilding on the Tyne by winding up the business, but said the brand still has a future in the North in the green energy sector.

Three years ago 260 people lost their jobs when the last ship to be built at Swan’s Wallsend yard was taken away to be finished on the Clyde.

The Ministry of Defence took the decision to sever its contract with Swan Hunter over the 16,500-tonne Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel the Lyme Bay when the firm was late in completing the work.

This would spell the beginning of the end for the shipyard.

It has now formally ceased trading as a shipbuilder by winding up Swan Hunter (Tyneside), but believes it has a bright future as a ship design, project management and engineering business with Swan Hunter (NE) Ltd, formed two years ago.

Owner Jaap Kroese believes the new business can become more involved in the engineering and installation of the turbines, and is looking to work with US firm Clipper Windpower in Blyth in Northumberland, which expects to create hundreds of jobs in the North East supply chain through the development of a 10MW wind turbine.

This shift in focus comes after the business became involved in the design of the £1.5bn Pieter Schelte vessel for Swiss company Allseas, which will measure 370m by 117m when it is constructed in China and Korea in around five years’ time. It will be purpose-built to carry huge wind turbines out to sea in order to create some of the world’s biggest wind farms.

Mr Kroese said: “There a number of possibilities open to us. It’s a real shame what has happened to shipbuilding on the Tyne.

“However, we must look to the future and look at ways to maintain Swan Hunter as a business. We believe we have the skilled labour and expertise to be a part of the wind power sector and will be looking to build on the contacts and experience we have gained as a result of the Pieter Schelte project.”

Although Mr Kroese has seen the value of Swan Hunter drop below his original purchase price, which was £4m when he bought it out of administration in 1995, and has seen little return for hi £39m investment into the business, he is still determined of making a success out of the new entity, so much so that he still lives in a flat above its offices.

He is now leasing the offices from North Tyneside Council, after it bought the 43-acre shipyard with a view to opening a marine industry training centre.

Although Mr Kroese, who now employs just 50 workers in Wallsend, is unclear of the council’s plans for the site, he said that he would look to retain the business in North Tyneside in order to preserve its heritage.

During its 150-year existence, Swan Hunter built more than 1,600 ships, including the record-breaking Mauretania.

Swan Hunter project manager John Mitchell said: “The shipbuilding industry on the Tyne is no more. As sad as that is, we mustn't hark back to the past but need to look at other ways in which our skilled workers can be of use.”