Briggs wins five-year offshore cable contract

BRIGGS, the Fife-based marine services company, has secured a five-year contract with Scottish & Southern Energy that will see it maintain hundreds of miles of cable in some of the harshest waters in Europe.

The family-owned firm, which operates a fleet of more than 30 vessels, will use the deal as a catalyst for a major drive into the offshore renewables market.

It plans to transfer the skills and expertise gained working in "challenging environments" to a sector experts believe could be worth 75 billion to the UK economy by 2020.

Under the agreement with SSE, Briggs will provide round-the-clock support for the utility giant's network of 102 live cables totalling almost 300 miles that link some of Scotland's most remote island communities.

The contract will encompass network survey work, cable protection and cable installation, repair and testing through all seasons in locations where currents can reach speeds of eight knots.

News of the deal follows a string of recent contract wins for Burntisland-based Briggs, which was founded in the 1970s and now operates in Europe, the Caspian region, Middle East and South America.

One of the biggest agreements, worth some 39 million and unveiled in September, will see the firm provide vessels, crew and onshore support to the UK Environment Agency's marine monitoring services throughout England and Wales.

Craig English, operations director for salvage and subsea cables, Briggs Marine, said: "The skills and expertise that we have developed working in challenging environments will also support our growth within Scotland's fast growing renewable energy sector. We see significant opportunities from the initial cable installation for the wind, wave and tidal devices and then on-going maintenance support throughout the lifecycle of the projects."

The company, which in 1995 was involved with the first deployment of a tidal device in Shetland, is launching an "integrated maintenance solution" for windfarm operators.