Pressure Technologies secures French naval contract

PRESSURE Technologies, which manufactures gas storage vessels used in the shipping, oil and defence industries, today said it had secured a £3m contract to supply cylinders to the French Navy.

Chesterfield Special Cylinders (CSC) – a wholly owned subsidiary of Sheffield-based Pressure Technologies – won the long-term contract to design and supply high-pressure air cylinders for the French Navy’s Barracuda submarine programme.

CSC will supply cylinders for back up breathing and operational systems for four boats, which are scheduled to be built between 2013 and 2022.

Chief executive John Hayward said: “CSC has considerable experience and skills in this sector, designing, supplying high pressure air cylinders in both the British Navy’s Trident and Astute submarine fleets. This contract for the French Navy was won following lengthy commercial and technical negotiations and, using those skills, teams from both parties were able to arrive at the optimal engineering solution which satisfied all the Barracuda’s operational requirements.

“We believe that this contract, our second for French submarines, further enhances CSC’s claim to be the world leader in the design and supply of high-pressure gas containment equipment to the naval marine sector.”

The company, which floated on the stock market last year, said in June that it had made £10m of its revenues over the interim period through exports – a record figure for the firm.

Chesterfield Special Cylinders can trace its history back to 1897.