Member Info for dawski37

Hmm..Loosegoose —brilliant find and excellent P.R. Just what is needed in the current climate of I.I ‘s sell offs in the last 10 days or so .If only we could hear the same from “Fife Today” about Methil.
It also my clear understanding that JW & Co did not “reverse” into Infrastrata …IM awaits JW’s crowning as the king of resuscitation of redundant heavy engineering yards in the U.K. and the saviour of IM despite “his messing about in a boat” at one stage though necessary that such action was at the time !! Onwards to Monday 8 a.m. !!

Good and valid point, Si …But there has never been any sign at all of ant partially completed jackets anywhere on site..not sure of the reason for the failure of the contact? Whether it was simply over “dosh” or totally rubbish and unworkable materials. Saipem have had their own financial problems of course in 2022 !

Well, have you seen the state of the bulbous bow on this beauty? Some respray job indeed. Just hope that they have enough paint over there. Should keep “the lads” busy for a while !! Well done team Belfast.

Hmm !! It seems that the drone video ( excellent that it is ) shows the vessel “Geise” moored at the berth adjacent to ours and all the activity is on the site next door . I may be wrong but it really would be good P.R to see evidence of some completed jackets appearing from the fabrication sheds soon .
Methil has been a troubled site for us of late what with the supply by Saipem ( allegedly !) of duff steel from the far East, labour issues with temporary workers from Portugal last year, the knock on the door from Mr. Tax Inspector and otherwise.
It is a fantastic site well positioned by the N. Sea and with an experienced local labour force from the Bifab days. Some positive spin and publicity is overdue please !!!!

Great find,Korda —no sign of any completed jackets though ..maybe they are “under cover”! There does however seems to be a huge amount of equipment and activity on the site ..well done,Sir ! More please from all of the yards !!

Touché ,Nobby ..we are all very interested in “what you think’…be fully assured -nice to be back to near break even after a depressing but now wondrous journey/voyage !!

Confirmed, Jabido, dear friend …I forgot your password some time ago !!.
I actually expressed such sentiments with the BOD some while ago at a meeting —-this project is a 5 year + plan and we need to promote the pride that we have for revitalising the yards and earn the respect of all concerned in the localities ..not so sure about Methil as no recent news therefrom. There simply is just too much negativity in this country and not enough entrepreneurial spirit nowadays . There WILL be activity under the cranes very soon and much goings on at the Energy Hub at Larne —I bet my hat on that !!!

Lottie —excellent well constructed and informative post as always with you …..”first thing tomorrow” indeed —-watch this space with keen interest !!

Shame indeed ….but be optimistic ……the clue and giveaway is in the headlines for this Company this week ——no need to “think outside the box” …..the clue for optimism is staring at you, be assured !!!!

Thank you,Chris ..noted that the instructing Solicitors may well work in finance and could be funding the claim —according to the unfortunate name anyway …allegedly that is !!!

Who says that I bailed out ??!!!

Are we all doomed ?!! I have been away for a while and no longer by any means a Significant Investor here but still interested in posts as still holding a loss as you can imagine !
Over the weekend I have re-read the piece about Saipem.
I was looking forward to the the Investor Meet in September and to catch up with the likes of Thistimenextyear and others as the previous meets at Methil in 2021 and Belfast 2022 were instructive and worthwhile .This year the Methil visit was cancelled at very short notice supposedly due to the Queen’s Passing ( which I respected ) but now I guess the possible true reason is out.
I had questions ready to find out how the project was progressing in all respects .I did contact the BOD about some of these but as always received no reply …and now the puzzling RNS which helps explains the silence ?
There must have been some serious financial issues arising at Methil earlier this year -HMRC only issue Winding Up orders as a last resort and the reason given did not at the time seem plausible but I took it at face value .
I was further staggered that 100 or so Portuguese “deck hands” downed tools as they claim there had not been paid —staggering indeed ! We had approx. 400 persons on site so not sure why we had to bus in extras?
Descoping is defined as “the strategic abandonment and/or weakening of commercial objectives….” Saipem was potentially a damn good move by JW and AR at the time following the acquisition of Methil but it was destined to go with the yard and the fall out has not really been explained …also the marginally less fee for 4 less jackets is an enigma -this has been touchéd on here already …all very disturbing for this potentially valuable asset .We were made aware of delays over the delivery of steel tubes from the Far East but our contractual timed obligations were not to start until the issues were corrected on site.The BOD may not be able to reveal more due to commercial sensitivity but something has gone badly wrong up there IMHO and hopefully we can move on as now “descoped” with a fair and firm handshake with Saipem !!!

Lottie …you are just so right and it is even better to attend at least one of the Investor Meets at any of our sites.Good to have a face to face chat and to find out exactly what has been and IS happening on the ground .I am attending at Methil again in September...there has been no photos yet of any completed jackets !!!
Now, following the exposure yesterday of the seemingly large fees charged by JW’s Company. Arrow Marine Management Ltd (“ Arrow”), this does need to be looked into further.
Some on this board regard JW (and AR ) as nothing more than a couple of chancers and takers. Todate,I have formed an opposite view as I consider that moving the Company away from the “One Trick Pony’ of I.M. And sussing out /expanding into other vibrant areas was good foresight not just chance.However,I have looked up Arrow..it was formed by JW in 2018 ,and was and still remains a pure “shell” outfit controlled by its sole director,JW .It would appear to be just a vehicle to receive in the likes of consultancy fees .Maybe ,I am wrong here ?
I seem to recall that at the time of needing some updated material /survey on the sea bottom of Lough Larne ,JW was the one who was prepared to “get of his a**e” and row the boat out and did the survey as a then matter of urgency to keep the Planners happy .Good Credit to him therefore if this was the case.
BUT we now need to know exactly what was effected over what period and by how many people .The Company (Arrow) only seems to have had 3 employees and is a most basic entity as far as Companies House records show .Do look it up !!
I still remain confident about JW and AR but this revelation now + the lack of transparency and their own investment in the Company speaks volumes !! Lottie ,more comment please !!

I.M. Remains the gem here .There will eventually be a surfeit of electricity produced from the extensive wind farms now starting to be developed in the Irish Sea and,boy, the wind doesn’t half blow across the Isle of Mann !! The excess Green Electricity that cannot be fed into the grid upon production will need to be stored after conversion into Green Hydrogen —-The Government is likely to be very interested in our project at long last but so will others IMHO !!
There will indeed be accountants and others placing their rulers over our gem but like Nobby31 says make your own decision about how much this company of ours is undervalued and do not be swayed by doomsters or indeed rampers (like I used to be allegedly ?!!)
There is also the scenario of resurrection of the “Barrow” project and using IM and Ballylumford as a vibrant Energy Hub !

The Investormeetcompany format is probably not the right one for us PI’s IMHO.
Whilst the format allows JW and AR to plough through their prepared slides and promise yet more jam tomorrow,It does not facilitate any dialogue as the BOD deal with only those questions that they feel best able to cope with .There are many unanswered! Perhaps a dialogue would have descended into chaos and indeed the best way to obtain info is to visit the sites on an Investor Tour.
Now whilst the BOD deserve credit for making IM compliant at the time of their being parachuted in and for overcoming most of the then regulatory issues and also for moving it away from a “one trick pony “ the fact remains that most of us were “sold “ on the promises of gold at the bottom of the wells . We are still being promised the stuff that you spread on treacakes…Yes, a lot of “good stuff’ has happened since but also much nonsense and errors.
Take for example the appalling PR gaffs ranging from the initial fractious dealings with local politicians at IM,then Triumph Subsea Services,the RNLI misconstrued headlines,HMRC Winding Up Petition and alleged serious labour issues at Methil .We had no chance of discussion or explanation about the latter two.The PR was so bad last month that in at least 3 National Papers the joyous news of The M55 and the second Cory Contracts were accompanied in the very same article about it being the “Titanic’ Company involved in a spat with HMRC !! Truly shocking !
We just needed some explanation as to exactly what has been going on at Methil .HMRC do not issue Petitions lightly nor after lengthy /detailed process as very costly for both sides so a statement that the Petition was caused by our accounts not being compatible with their systems seems implausible without some guidance to us .Also we need to know if the Saipem contract working OK as we have seen no new evidence of the jackets being assembled or indeed painted ( now that the paint shop is up and running apparently?) —More to follow .
Basically the aim of this post is not just to criticise the BOD for yet again turning out the so-called Marmalade news with slides, rather to encourage them to start telling us something interesting )( in so as they are allowed ) and relevant for our decision making !!So there ! At least the II’s seem happy enough at present —-or are they ? …now that is a good question !!?

Hmm..Maybe on Thursday representations/questions should be raised about resurrecting the Barrow FRSU project abandoned as then not being that cost effective some time ago …well before Ukraine !!!

Some good news for the weekend. This now slightly ageing catamaran is owned by Pentland Ferries in the Orkneys and suffered some port bulbous bow damage following a grounding on the Isle of Swona ?? on 5th July.
She is coming into BDD on Monday morning for urgent repairs and it is a credit to the Belfast team that the dock and all required staff have been made ready to accommodate her.
Am on holiday at present and am not able to cut and paste the article from the Pentland Ferries site so if anyone can facilitate and paste the whole article that will make for interesting reading .
Also setting the current blockage of the JR aside for one moment,I.M.’s future grows stronger month by month especially when the need for storage of excess Green Hydrogen ( i.e. that part which exceeds demand from time to time by the Grid ) will soon arise ——I speak here of the exciting Wind Farm developments in the Irish Sea …where the Irish winds blow far more fierce than in the North Sea ——Onwards and ..upwards very soon .Thursday eve should be fun !!!

And give us a call for a lift from the flying station !!

Correction ..possible apology too !! The “Aurora” ship due on the 13th June is V2GS9 and is a smallish container ship NOT a P&O Cruise Liner …so there you have it. Again Vessel Finder site will confirm details and current location !!Sorry folks !

Now shown due on 13th June on the Belfast Harbour site from Liverpool /Greenock …..busy lady if these reports are true !! Would make good PR if still expected !!