On The Crest of a Wave

INTERNATIONAL DIVING TECHNOLOGY COMPANY ANNOUNCES CONTRACT AWARD & EXPANSION PLANS

International diving equipment technology company DIVEX today (12th July 2007) announced a major contract award with a value in excess of £12million. Divex, whose global headquarters are based in Westhill, Aberdeen, will supply the UK’s Royal Navy with a significant quantity of Stealth CDLSE (Clearance Divers Life Support Equipment) diving sets, as well as providing training, maintenance and support of the specialist diving equipment. The contract was awarded to Divex by the MOD’s Defence Equipment & Support organisation following public tender and stiff national and international competition.

The Divex Stealth CDLSE is the most advanced underwater life support system in the world today and will enable Royal Navy Clearance Divers to conduct their full range of tasks worldwide including the provision of a specialist underwater response in the fight against terrorism.

A state-of-the-art compact and highly sophisticated electronically controlled rebreather, the CDLSE is capable of being used in multi-mission diving profiles. It has been developed utilising modern materials and new technologies. Its extremely low WoB (Work of Breathing) surpasses international standards, and crucially to mine clearance diving operations, surpasses all NATO non-magnetic and low acoustic standards.

There will be a significant new investment in both facilities - the company will be establishing a new Southern Base Facility near to Portsmouth - and personnel to ensure that the agreed availability performance aspect of the contract is met. Divex will manage a pre-determined quantity of the diving sets and spares at a high level of operational readiness, and will also manage the spares, repairs, servicing, and technical support until 2019.

In view of the complex nature of this supply and support contract Divex put together a project team consisting of their highly specialised people including experienced engineers, technicians and former defence and commercial diving personnel to ensure that every aspect of the RN’s strict requirements was addressed.

Divex’s Stealth rebreathers are in-service with Navies worldwide having evolved in response to increasing customer operational requirements. Divex’s Test and Development Team has spent many years developing this technology and development costs are estimated to have exceeded the £2million mark. The company has been supplying Rebreathers to the defence and commercial diving markets for over 20 years.

Commander Chris Ameye, the MOD Superintendent of Diving and CDLSE Fleet Customer, said “the award of this contract represents a significant step towards the restoration of a safe and viable deep diving capability. The arrival of CDLSE later this year will be a major boost to the clearance diving specialisation and will provide the Royal Navy with a first class diving capability. I very much look forward to CDLSE’s introduction into service.”

The CDLSE provides the diver with increased levels of safety incorporating a secondary contingency breathing system for emergency use. It has an extended duration of up to six hours use and is capable of operating using different gases depending on the type of operation. Uniquely, for deep diving operations it can be linked to a surface safety support team so the diving supervisor can monitor the diver and his life support system - critically for mine clearance diving operations in the 21st Century, the equipment including the breathing apparatus must be completely non-magnetic to avoid alerting the mine to the diver’s presence.

Divex joint Managing Director, Derek Clarke commented, ”this is without doubt one of the most significant defence orders we have been awarded to date, not only in terms of value but in the prestige of winning the order against determined and worthy competition with a client that is regarded as one of the pre-eminent navies. It’s also a major CFA (Contracting for Availability) contract to be undertaken, and the selection by the Royal Navy endorses the Divex Stealth CDLSE’s status as the leading product in the market today.”

During the 1990s a strategic decision was taken by the business to focus considerable company resource on the defence market. Since then defence diving has rapidly developed into a significant aspect of the business with approximately 30% of the company’s turnover attributed to international defence markets. Divex currently employs more than 400 people worldwide.