Southampton: SMS completes two major contracts for cruise line

A Southampton-based company has completed two pieces of major interior outfit work for Holland America Line cruise operation.

The SMS Group, one of the UK’s leading ship repairers and marine engineering services providers, worked on the Noordam and Volendam ships.

SMS, based at Ocean Quay in Belvidere Road, Southampton, has built a reputation as a specialist in ship repair, marine engineering and major fabrication projects in the commercial marine, defence and superyachts sectors.

Since 2018 the company has developed a ‘boutique’ interior outfit division focusing on both cruise and commercial tonnage.

Dan Lockyer, who heads up the cruise division, said: “The experience and expertise within my team is exceptional.

“Completing these first two, major projects, on time and on budget is a tremendous credit to both my colleagues and our customer alike. We’re extremely grateful.

“The Noordam refit, undertaken in the Seaspan yard in Victoria, Canada, was a great success. We had over 20 men on site, with two project managers, and completed works in 742 cabins.

“The Volendam was similar, although a slightly smaller project. The works were undertaken in Freeport, Grand Bahamas. It featured 16 men, a project manager, and 196 suites. Both projects enjoyed several work streams.”

Lockyer added: “The refits ran like clockwork for two simple seasons, and these reasons are what sets us apart in the market.

“One, our ethos is one of ‘ownership’ and ‘responsibility’. We’re a small team and our project managers own the job from start to finish.

“And two, we genuinely care. We’re not a big corporate. We‘re a small, dedicated and focused team that directly engage with, and passionately support the customer.”

SMS also operates, in‐house, a diving and sub‐surface marine engineering division.

Ben Rowe, general manager of SMS in Southampton, said: “The cruise space is becoming more important to SMS from an engineering perspective too.

“As a team we specialise not only in outfit but also in the provision of structural, mechanical, electrical and hydraulic support - not only here in Southampton but internationally through the provision of riding squads.

“As this maritime vertical continues to grow so too will our support infrastructure.”

The interior outfit pipeline of works within the SMS Group now exceeds circa £3 million with an even split between cruise and commercial tonnage.