Two more ferries to get SPS

Intelligent Engineering (IE) in the UK says two more ferries are to be refitted with the Sandwich Plate Systems (SPS) that was first tested aboard P&O`s ferry Pride of Cherbourg in 1999. The company has declined to identify the ships or the shipowner in question, but says that work will begin shortly at a British ship repair yard. Considerable interest in the SPS has been expressed in the ship repair industry since IE, first revealed details of the technology last year. IE claims SPS can considerably simplify many repairs, and says it will enable them to be completed in less time and at lower cost than with conventional steel construction techniques that uses stiffeners (The Motor Ship, November 2000).