20 September 2013
At the beginning of the week Shoreham Port welcomed students from Saudi Arabia, currently studying at Ramora UK in Portsmouth, to visit the Port’s dry dock. Keith Wadey, Assistant Port Engineer is responsible for the dry dock and was on hand to show the students around the facility, explaining the intricacies involved in running a commercial dry dock.
The students are trainee Counter Espionage Divers who will be learning how to uncover hidden weapons, bombs, drugs, vessel limpet mines and any other explosive devices attached to vessels when they return to Saudi Arabia to complete their training. The students will eventually dive in areas of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
The visit to the dry dock gave the students a unique opportunity to see what a vessel looks like out of the water. Each group spent 30 minutes under the vessel with their instructor and translator whilst Keith Wadey discussed the areas where you would be most likely to find a suspicious object, placed to disable a vessel, such as on the Stern or Propeller. The group discussed in detail about water cool engines and the large pipes required for the engine, skin fittings and areas targeted as storage for explosives and for smuggling illegal items.
Keith Wadey added “the students were enthusiastic and keen to learn. They were particularly interested in the configuration of the stern of the vessel. At Shoreham Port we embrace the opportunity to invite people to the Port to receive education and training in their field of study. We particularly enjoy meeting people from other parts of the world and gaining a better understanding of their culture and how they carry out similar projects in their country. The dry dock is a fantastic facility to have at Shoreham and it is great that it can also be opened up for educational use”.
