Underwater Contracting adds more Falcons to its fleet

Scottish-based marine support services business Underwater Contracting (UCO), already owner of the world’s largest fleet of Saab Seaeye Falcon ROVs, has added to its pool through the purchase of five new machines.

The deal gives UCO a total of 38 Falcon systems. The company, based in Aberdeen in northeast Scotland, is a leading provider of underwater services to the offshore energy, inspection, construction, and aquaculture markets. The company said it has expanded its fleet in response to major new multi-year contract wins across all sectors, which will see it provide a range of services in Europe, North America and the Middle East.

In addition, UCO has made significant investment in additional equipment and now holds a stock of £250,000 dedicated Saab Seaeye Falcon spares and more than £350,000 worth of auxiliary equipment ranging from manipulators to station holding and everything in between.

Mick Bower, UCO managing director, said: “Adding these additional systems to our fleet will enable us to respond to the upsurge in business and the major new contracts we have won in recent months.

“We have also made significant investment in adding to our stock of in spares and auxiliary equipment for the Falcons, so we can respond immediately to any issues or additional requirements that might arise during the delivery of our services for existing and new clients. Providing excellent customer service is integral to the way we run our business and having these items to hand when we need them, avoids unnecessary delays for our clients.”

UCO has enjoyed year-on-year growth since entering the market in 2017 through expansion of its range of services and global sphere of operations. In particular, it specialises in pioneering the development of innovative and industry leading solutions which support the rapid growth of the aquaculture sector.

They include the FOOVER mortality recovery system, NetFix, a unique ROV-deployed system to repair small holes in fish farm nets, and the latest development – collar cleaning equipment for fish farms. These systems are now deployed around the world.

In 2022, UCO won what is still believed to be one of the largest ROV contracts awarded to the global aquaculture sector – the client was Mowi, the world’s largest salmon producer. The multi-million-pound contract represented more than 27,000 ROV days over a five-year period, breaking down to 15 ROVs, working 365 days a year over five years in projects in Europe and North America.

UCO is part of Ocean Marine Group with sister companies Pirie & Smith and ETPM.

Seaeye Falcon fitted with NetFix at a fish farm