A LEADING ship repairer has completed two major refits for Holland America Line cruise ships.

Southampton-based SMS Group worked on the Noordam and Volendam ships in Canada and the Bahamas.

The firm, headquartered at Ocean Quay in Belvidere Road, has is a specialist in ship repair, marine engineering and major fabrication projects in the commercial marine, defence and superyacht sectors.

Since 2018, the company has developed a “boutique” interior outfit division to focus on cruise and commercial ships.

Dan Lockyer, who heads the cruise division, said: “The experience and expertise within my team is exceptional.

“Completing these first two, major projects, on time and on budget is a tremendous credit to both my colleagues and our customer alike. We’re extremely grateful.

“The Noordam refit, undertaken in the Seaspan yard in Victoria, Canada, was a great success.

“We had over 20 men on site, with two project managers, and completed works in 742 cabins.

“The Volendam was similar, although a slightly smaller project. The works were undertaken in Freeport, Grand Bahamas. It featured 16 men, a project manager, and 196 suites. Both projects enjoyed several work streams.

“The refits ran like clockwork for two simple seasons and these reasons are what sets us apart in the market.

“One, our ethos is one of ‘ownership’ and ‘responsibility’. We’re a small team and our project managers own the job from start to finish. And two, we genuinely care. We’re not a big corporate. We ‘re a small, dedicated and focussed team that directly engage with, and passionately support the customer.”

SMS also operates, in-house, a diving and sub‐surface marine engineering division.

Ben Rowe, general manager of SMS in Southampton, said: “The cruise space is becoming more important to SMS from an engineering perspective too.

“As a team we specialise not only in outfit but also in the provision of structural, mechanical, electrical and hydraulic support – not only here in Southampton but internationally through the provision of riding squads.

“As this maritime vertical continues to grow, so too will our support infrastructure.”

The firm has more than £3million of interior outfit work in its pipeline, evenly split between cruise and commercial vessels.

Mr Lockyer and his team will be at Cruise Ship Interiors Expo Europe from December 4-5 in Fira Barcelona.