UK high-speed boat and RIB-builder Marine Specialised Technology (MST) Group reports that it has secured a £6 million funding package from domestic bank NatWest. Ben Kerfoot, group managing director, tells The Naval Architect: “The funding will be used to finance the build stage of projects that are increasingly larger and more complex, to satisfy the growing needs of the global maritime defence and security markets.”
The arrangement with the bank appears to have been highly cordial. Kerfoot adds: “Working in a specialist industry as we do, NatWest really took the time to understand our business, and we look forward to having this enhanced financial capability to scale our operations and meet rapidly accelerating demand. This is a milestone moment for us.”
Founded in 2002, and currently employing 135 staff at its 35,000m2 waterside facility in Bromborough, Merseyside, MST Group specialises in producing small boats for military clients. In addition to building the boats, the company offers bespoke training for vessel operation, technical support and boat maintenance/repair services, as well as handling spare parts and boat upgrades.
MST Group’s boat lines include the SEABOAT class, the first of which was delivered to the German Coast Guard in 2003. Since then, the company has gone on to secure contracts with the Netherlands’ Defence Materiel Organization (now COMMIT) and the UK Ministry of Defence, among others, and recently delivered the first in its FIC-1700 range of 17m fast interceptors to a Mediterranean client.
The FIC-1700 is powered by four 600hp (447kW) Mercury Verado engines, and was designed specifically for visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) tasks, being capable of a top speed in excess of 55knots, a 650nm range and “what we suspect will be a class-beating 0-50knot acceleration”, Kerfoot reveals. He adds: “The second unit is undergoing factory testing and will then join its sister boat already in active service.”
In a statement issued earlier this week, MST Group said: “[Our] services and operations also tie in with metro mayor Steve Rotherham’s stated aim to grow the economy through three key clusters within the Liverpool Combined Authority region, one of which is ‘advanced manufacturing’.”
