Bridon International has invested GBP 30 million in a factory that will produce multi strand ropes in gross package weights of up to 650 tonnes, making them the largest and most complex in the world. The Bridon Neptune Quay site, which is located on Newcastle's Tyneside, will be fully operational by the end of 2012.

The closer machine is used to draw together thousands of wire strands into a single rope. Bridon's closer is the first of its kind capable of making a 600 tonnes rope in a single pass. Bridon Neptune Quay's closer also boasts 24 bobbins (15 and 38 tonne capacity), giving it the ability to make far more complex ropes.

Mr Jon Templeman CEO of the Bridon Group said that "The ropes produced at this state of the art facility will expand the boundaries of the possible for customers across the sector. Bridon Neptune Quay has been built to help us solve our customers' most significant technological challenges whether it is reaching new depths off the coast of Brazil, or operating in some of the most challenging environmental conditions on earth."

(Sourced from www.offshore-mag.com)