UK-based global engineering specialist the ABL Group has completed the acquisition of 100 per cent of the shares in Brazilian naval architecture and engineering consultancy Proper Marine.
Following the transaction, Proper Marine will be merged with the ABL Group's design and engineering arm Longitude Engineering. The planned transaction was first announced on December 5 last year.
The acquisition expands the ABL Group's technical centre of excellence in design and engineering for maritime and offshore energy construction and operations. The addition of Proper Marine expands the ABL Group's design and engineering capabilities with a team of more than 90 professionals and a portfolio of more than 1,600 projects.
The acquisition also strengthens the ABL Group's offering in both Brazil and the wider Americas within vessel design and conversion, asset integrity management and life extension, and marine and energy operations engineering. In addition, Proper Marine brings significant expertise in floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels, enhancing the ABL Group's overall capabilities in this segment.
In addition, being part of Longitude will support Proper Marine in transitioning some of its expertise to increasingly support renewable energy and energy transition design and engineering.
Among other projects, Proper Marine also assisted in the salvage effort following the grounding of the very large ore carrier Stellar Banner in Brazilian waters in early 2020. The company carried out 3D modelling of the ship's hull and surrounding seabed, to identify precisely where it had become stranded, in addition to calculating the volume of cargo and water to be removed prior to salvage.