JFD Wins Lifeboat Design Contract for Flash Tekk

JFD, part of James Fisher and Sons plc, announced that it has won a contract with Singaporean company Flash Tekk Engineering for the design and manufacture of up to eight Self-Propelled Hyperbaric Lifeboats (SPHL).

A development to improve operational safety standards, SPHLs are to be installed as part of the saturation diving systems on the new Red-Class fleet of Diving Support Vessels (DSV). 

The SPHLs are currently under construction for Flash Tekk’s parent company Ultra Deep Solutions, the builder and operator of ultra-deep diving heavy construction vessels.

In the event of a vessel emergency, each SPHL has the capability to evacuate the entire complement of the saturation diving system under pressure, safeguarding the lives of the divers and ensuring that the required decompression process can be carried out fully and without additional risk. The divers are transferred to a pressurized chamber inside one of the vessel’s SPHLs (located both port and starboard). They are then deployed with a coxswain and life support crew to deliver the divers to a safe environment where decompression can be carried out.

The multimillion pound contract includes scope for the design, manufacture and integration of up to eight SPHLs, six with the capacity to accommodate 18 divers and two larger ones for up to 24 divers. Each SPHL can operate at depths of up to 300 meters, and the craft is fully certified by DNV-GL.

To execute the project, JFD has teamed its Divex branded hyperbarics and chamber design expertise with respected lifeboat manufacturer Vanguard Composite Engineering Pte Ltd, based in Singapore. JFD’s Divex chamber and life support systems will be installed in the Vanguard–designed lifeboat, and Vanguard will supply the launch and recovery systems. The partnership will provide a product which will be available to all builders, shipyards and operators of saturation diving systems.