Houlder has announced that the 34th and final 3.5Te SWL ‘C’ type davit has been delivered to the Ministry of Defence.  Houlder’s bespoke design enables the Royal Navy Type 22 and Type 23 Frigates to deploy four different military Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) variants including the latest Pacific 24 in heavy seas up to Sea State 7.  It utilises heave compensation technology to safely launch and recover RIBs while the Navy’s most versatile vessels are underway at up to twenty degrees of heel and ten degrees trim.

PJ Engineering Products fabricated all thirty-four davits in two batches at its base in Tyne & Wear. The first twenty eight are already installed on operational warships leaving Houlder to set-to-work and sea trial six more installations (two per ship) throughout 2010. These are on  HMS Argyll (T23 Frigate) and HMS Cornwall and HMS Campbeltown (T22 Frigates).

The contract, initially awarded in 2005 and extended last year, is the latest example of a successful partnership between Houlder and its chosen fabricators.

You can read more about the davits and their specification here and see it in action below.