A NEW £210,000 centre which could provide a significant help to the North-East's fabrication industry was officially opened yesterday.

The Offshore Energy Centre at Wallsend, created by the Government and firms including AMEC, BP and Shell and regional development agency One NorthEast, will promote Britain's expertise in the oil industry. The centre is in the AMEC yard, which recently won the £300m contract to fit out the Bonga, the largest-ever vessel to sail into the Tyneside..

The vessel, which will create 1,750 jobs, is currently sheltering in Rotterdam because bad weather has prevented it sailing up the Tyne.

The yard has also won a £50m contract for the main fabrication and integration work on the Clair Phase One Project, an oil platform that will work in the Clair oilfield off the Shetlands.

Hartlepool-based Heerema has a £20m contract to build a drilling module, which will create around 300 jobs.

The new centre will promote the country's expertise to firms across the world and the hope is that the region's companies will benefit at a time when manufacturing jobs are disappearing.

The centre was unveiled by Energy Minister Brian Wilson yesterday.

He said: "It is a credit to Tyneside that it has been chosen to showcase UK fabrication technology.

"The Offshore Energy Centre not only provides an essential shop window to showcase UK expertise but also offers unique opportunities to bring both UK and overseas customers into this vibrant business environment.

"It is vital that the UK keeps hold of this tradition by encouraging young people into a sector where the average workforce age currently stands at 50. The centre is right to target early links with schools and colleges in the area, and across the country, in order to maintain its richly deserved first class reputation.''

Mr Wilson also said that the Clair deal marked a "renaissance in the UK offshore industry''