A technical visit on behalf of the Manufacturing Committee to JFD Global on the 8th of November was a great success.
JFD Global design, develop and manufacturer commercial diving equipment systems including decompression chambers, submarine rescue systems notable the mini rescue submarines and special operations vessels for the worlds Navy's submarine fleets.
The event was hosted by their mini submarine engineering team in Inchinnan supported a colleague from Aberdeen who explained the designs and differentiators that their commercial diving systems provide.
They gave an excellent presentation supported by physical models to demonstrate the scope of their work. In the course of describing the events leading up to a submarine rescue mission what was surprising was the level of organisation and demands placed upon the company to execute a submarine rescue. The mini submarine is only part of the system as the launch/retrieval and decompression subsystems must also be transported, loaded and configured on a vessel before heading out to sea; an excellent example of engineering and logistics.
A tour of the assembly area including a demonstration of the latest generation of rescue submarine which was being finalised prior to dock tests.
JFD Global have indicated that they are willing to host a similar event in 2019 and I strongly encourage getting along to that event. JFD Global should be celebrated as a UK company doing excellent work in the most challenging of environments supplying equipment to some of the most demanding clients and being successful at it.
I would like to extend a very warm thank you for the hospitality shown by the JFD global team.
Paul Beynon BSc CEng MIET.