UNDERWATER FRONTIER ADVANCING THE
Subsea Testing and Evaluation (UK) Ltd was founded in 2019, as Fort William UTC, but rebranded a few years later. The name might have changed but the company’s mission remains to provide a high-quality testing facility and exceptional services in the underwater space. Operations Director John MacLellan explained more to Hannah Barnett.
Subsea Testing and Evaluation (STE) is constantly striving to stay ahead of the curve, ensuring that it delivers the best solutions possible to clients. By combining cutting-edge technologies with a deep understanding of subsea operations, the company has carved a niche for itself in the market.
“Our commitment to innovation, safety and sustainability truly sets us apart,” said John MacLellan, Operations Director. “Our goal is to deliver efficient and reliable solutions to the customer in some of the most challenging environments. The area that we test in the
North Sea is not a controlled, benign environment, like a tank or a dry dock. It’s real life and that is key for our customers.”
New name, old values
The company has worked closely alongside Seafast Maritime and Caldive for several years, most recently providing ROV support on board their vessels. All three companies are linked under the management of Iain Beaton.
STE is still relatively new to its name, having only rebranded at the end of 2023.
The change was driven by the growing demand for solutions in the subsea testing market and by the desire for the business to make a clean break. Since the rebrand, the company has successfully expanded into new markets and regions, broadening its footprint in the subsea sector.
“Whether that’s coincidence, or down to the name change, I’m not sure,” said Mr MacLellan. “What I do know, is that we have forged key strategic partnerships with leading industry players. I do think the refreshed brand has given us a new lease
of life. It aligns with our partnerships to provide a broader scope of services, but also ensures that we are competitive in an evolving market. 2025 started with January all booked up. So, the rebrand has been a success as far as I’m concerned.”
Based in Fort William, in the Scottish Highlands, STE has made its name in the nuclear, military, oil and gas, and renewables sectors. It has more recently also expanded into ROV services, primarily serving Caldive on dive-support projects. This has proved an effective move – and a profitable one.
“2024 was a really good year for us,” Mr MacLellan reflected. “Fort William is not just a subsea testing facility now. I would estimate 45 per cent of our turnover was revenue from ROV supply offshore to Caldive and Seafast.”
As well as incorporating its new segment, the last few years have been a time of general growth and expansion at STE. In November 2024, the company upgraded its ROV fleet to include a vehicle called Icon. This top-ofthe-range vessel has inbuilt recording, adding an ultra-modern edge to the additional four ROVs in the fleet. It is clear that the company’s current focus is all about reinvestment.
“Any money we are taking in, we are putting back into the business,” said Mr MacLellan. “So, we have upgraded the engines in our work boat, and we’ve bought a new fast
rescue craft. All this means, when a client comes to our site, we are in a position where we’re seen to offer not just a high-quality service, but superior, well-maintained equipment. That’s very important. So, we’ll continue to invest and upgrade throughout 2025.”
Building bonds
STE maintains and expand its client base by visiting all the major exhibitions and tradeshows in the oil and gas calendar. Indeed, being visible is a key facet to the company’s success, according to Mr MacLellan.
“We’ve got to be out there, making ourselves available to answer questions,” he said. “So, we spend a lot of money on exhibiting. We do all the main events where our clients are likely to be, because communication is vital to what we do.
“If I haven’t heard from a customer in a month, I will drop a note for a catch up. That’s key. It’s about building that relationship and that trust. And it may be that a client doesn’t have a budget this year for doing anything, but there is always the following year, so it’s important to keep the relationship open. Communication like this has been vital for me over the last 15 years.”
No doubt aiding STE in its capacity for innovation, the company has also built strong relationships with suppliers, some stretching back 20 years. Such relationships are prized, built along much the same lines as those with clients.
“Again, it’s all about good communication,” said Mr MacLellan. “I have to understand what my customer wants, and my suppliers need to
understand what I want. They also must know that I need it quickly and that the quality must be right. So, I’ve got to be transparent and clear in my requirements. We must deliver to our customers satisfaction: on HSE, on cost and on timeline. It’s vital that my suppliers understand my needs 100 per cent.
“And I’m happy to say that supplier relationships don’t change much for us. On a yearly basis, we maybe adopt two new suppliers, sometimes not. We’re fortunate that the key suppliers we already have tick all the boxes.”
The future of the sector
In a market like ROVs, which is evolving so rapidly, the company must constantly keep abreast of developments. Being well situated on the west coast of Scotland, STE is in a position to test many cutting-edge vessels before they are released onto the main market. These include prototypes for Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Subsea 7 and Saab Seaeye.
“We see the technology before it’s available to the end user,” Mr MacLellan explained.
“There are vehicles in the early stages of becoming 60 per cent autonomous and 40 per cent manually flown, and vehicles that can launch and recover autonomously, stay subsea and evolve into a manually-operated work class ROV. I haven’t seen one yet, but I do know that companies in South America are moving that way. The ROV industry is changing all the time. Admittedly, it’s not yet where I think the industry would like it to be. But it’s getting there.”
It is undeniable that, from oil and gas to renewables, military to ROVs, STE is involved in a wide variety of innovative projects.
“It’s very exciting,” concluded Mr MacLellan. “Technology that was here last year may have completely changed in 12 months. It is stressful at points, especially as we’re at the mercy of environmental conditions, but the client understands that when they come here. There are times, not very many, when we cannot operate offshore because we are out of safety parameters. But the key is to get the client’s project complete. Not all trials will be successful. But I’d like to think the majority of them are.
“Providing the space to be innovative in the sector is exactly what we most enjoy about what we do.” n
