Rolls-Royce Wins a Series of New Maintenance Contracts

4 October 2000
Rolls-Royce Wins a Series of New Maintenance Contracts
    LONDON, Oct. 4 Rolls-Royce has won a number of maintenance
contracts in both the United Kingdom and Australia.  The work will be managed
by the company's Materials Handling division based in Gateshead, England.
    One of the contracts will be carried out at the port of Townsville,
Queensland, Australia, where Rolls-Royce will supply a range of services
including repairs and maintenance to a grab ship unloader crane, stockyard
facility and a container crane on an adjoining quay.  The busy port is used to
unload materials for Queensland Nickel refinery.  The initial contract is for
three years and is with a local Australian company, NPS.
    Sea Containers Ports at Heysham Port in the UK has also extended an
original three-year contract with Rolls-Royce by an additional year from April
2001.  Further negotiations will take place later this year on additional
equipment.  At Heysham Rolls-Royce maintains tractor units and
roll on/roll-off linkspan bridges.
    In the United Kingdom an existing contract with Bridgwater Paper in
Ellesmere Port has been renewed for two more years to provide on-site
maintenance and 24 hour standby cover for more than 40 cranes at the facility.
Rolls-Royce will also carry out gantry repairs crane modifications and
upgrades to the plant.  By renewing this contract, Bridgewater Paper is
extending its long running links with Rolls-Royce which go back 15 years.
     On the Isle of Man Rolls-Royce installed a new electrical control system
and supply spares for a major road swing bridge in the town of Ramsey.  The
bridge, which was erected 105 years ago, is on one of the town's busiest roads
and the contract is from the Isle of Man Government's Department of Transport.
    The bridge was originally operated by six men who were paid to operate it
by hand winding and it has undergone a series of upgrades over the years.  It
links a residential area to the main town centre.
    Jill Hill, Managing Director Materials Handling, Rolls-Royce said:  "This
broad range of contracts underlines the depth of our engineering capabilities.
We are noticing a steady increase in the amount of enquiries for our skills
and we are expecting further contracts soon."