Bardex Corporation has signed a contract with a major National Oil Company in the Middle East for the design, manufacture and supply of a system to skid offshore structures and vessels up to 13,000 tonnes in weight at a shipyard still under construction in the Middle East.

The Bardex skidding system comprises two gripper jacks each rated to provide a 650 tonne lateral force to push/pull the vessels for loadout or recovery. Each gripper jack will be supplied by a 200 hp diesel driven hydraulic power unit which will have sophisticated sensing equipment and instrumentation to assure both gripper jacks are precisely synchronised.