Scottish engineering company, Ocean Kinetics, has announced a significant strategic investment in Irish marine engineering company, MMG Ocean.

This investment will lead to an expansion of facilities and jobs at MMG Ocean and a partnership that aims to drive innovation and growth in the marine engineering sector.

Shetland-based Ocean Kinetics’ 25 per cent investment in the Killybegs-based company follows the two businesses’ past collaboration on a number of successful projects, including an innovative clean energy storage system for the aquaculture sector and the construction of marine grade metal frames for deployment in offshore wind developments.

The new partnership is also proving to be mutually beneficial with work being referred, as appropriate, across the two businesses. For example, a contract with US company LDX for specialised high quality cooling filters, which were fitted at the Intel Leixlip semiconductor facility in Ireland, relied on Ocean Kinetics’ expertise and facilities for the manufacture of these high spec components, while MMG Ocean’s gangways have been installed on the Shetland pelagic fishing fleet vessels Antares, Charisma, and Zephyr, and another will be installed on Antarctic III which is currently being built in Astilleros Zamacona, Bilbao, Spain.

Managing director of Ocean Kinetics, John Henderson, said: 
“We are really excited about our partnership with MMG Ocean, which brings together Ocean Kinetics’ extensive industry experience, market reach, and resources with MMG Oceans’ innovative product development, expertise, and access to European markets. It undoubtedly underscores the synergy between the two companies and positions us as industry leaders across a range of sectors.

“Building from an established relationship, we now have a solid base from which to expand our reach and create transformative engineering solutions that bring genuine innovation to the marketplace.”

Managing director of MMG Ocean, Martin McGuiness, said: 
“Our collaboration with Ocean Kinetics opens up immense opportunities, and we believe that our partnership will give us the capacity to expand and deliver a much wider offering than each of us currently has.

“Fusing the design expertise and production capacity of both companies gives us the ability to fulfil major contracts in renewables, energy, marine, aquaculture and fisheries, decommissioning, power, and utilities sectors across the UK, Ireland, Europe, and beyond.”

Ocean Kinetics, which has been operating since 1992, are experts in engineering, with specialisms including fabrication in steel, stainless and aluminium, machining and manufacture, inspection and testing, industrial insulation and cladding, as well as other services, including rope access and underwater works. The company has workshops and design offices in Shetland as well as two workshops in Aberdeen, a workshop in Orkney, and a sales office in Oban.

MMG Ocean (formerly MMG Welding) are experts in coded welding and marine fabrication, also working in steel, stainless steel and aluminium. MMG has a dedicated focus on quality and innovation, providing innovative, sustainable, engineering solutions, products, and services to the marine, aquaculture, fishing, and energy sectors – to ISO and DNV standards.

In 2018 MMG secured a European and US patent on its hero product, MMG Ocean Gangway Systems®, which features a unique folding mechanism designed to provide customised, automated gangway solutions to increase safety on vessels and improve operational efficiencies.