Steel Benders help build £1.5m survey vessel for Marshall Jakeman

The 27m purpose-built boat, weighing 350 tonne, stands in the yard of Marshall Jakeman Marine’s Graving Dock in Middlesbrough, where it is a third of the way through the fit-out stage.

Work first started on the MJM Enterprise in November 2020. More than 100 tonnes of steel has been profiled, formed or etched by Dockside Road neighbours Steel Benders UK.

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Marshall Jakeman is believed to be one of the only vessel builder-operators in the UK and Chris Jakeman, managing director, has explained the driving force behind such a massive project.

He said: “This will be the third vessel we have, joining Marshall Art and DSV Curtis Marshall. We have completed the design and fabrication stage and are working through the fit-out stage.

“We will finish, launch and commission it from here. Having started surveying in 2016, the Enterprise has been designed with everything we have learned about a survey boat in mind.

“We have developed it looking at what the most flexible and stable solution for the offshore renewable survey market is. It has taken us two-and-a-half years to get to this point and it is exciting to see where we are at now.”

When completed the Enterprise was designed to accommodate up to 20 people and hit the sea for three weeks at a time. It will be chartered and most of its work is expected to be in areas such as surveying seabeds in areas where wind farms could be placed.

The vessel is expected to operate across Europe and benefits from a range of features such as a large working deck, a 1.2m moon pool and comfortable workstations. There will be 19 berths, a spacious working gallery, separate lounge area among other things.

Marshall Jakeman's Barry Marshall and Chris Jakeman with Steel Benders UK's Phil Anderson (Image: Tom Banks)

Steel Benders, the Middlesbrough-based steel processing specialists, have worked closely with Marshall Jakeman every step of the way to profile and form 90 per cent of the steel required for the build. They have also worked together on the Marshall Art.

Phil Anderson, the operations director at Steel Benders, said: “I can’t wait to see this vessel launched. It is amazing to come down here and see such an exciting project take shape on our doorstep. The detail that has gone into this is phenomenal.

“It fills you with so much pride that you can work closely with companies local to Steel Benders and see projects from start to finish. As the supplier of choice we have been honoured to help deliver what Marshall Jakeman have wanted when they have wanted it.

“We have looked to maximise the use of plates, cut and etched them, a critical part of the process, and we have done some forming, before returning the steel in a realistic order. We work with customers to suit their needs.”

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Steel Benders have also stored material until it has been ready to go for Marshall Jakeman, which was originally founded by experienced anglesmith Barry Marshall in 2004, to do the rest.

Chris said: “Barry has always been a steel bender having worked previously at Cleveland Bridge but we were limited in what we could do here. We started to use Steel Benders for bits of rolling, rings, and all sorts of bespoke jobs.

“There has been more than 100 tonnes of steel on this project. We are still needing more done now, we are currently in the engine room. There will still be more done on that front over the next six months.

“We are looking at completion in the summer of next year. Barry has been the fabrication man, everything outside the fab has been done through me and our small team.

“It’s brilliant to see the MJM Enterprise take shape but I’m certainly looking forward to being able to sleep when it is finished.”