A NORTH-EAST port has helped deliver a 700-tonne offshore pipe-laying tower to Rotterdam.

The Port of Tyne loaded the 45-metre structure, belonging to IHC Engineering Business, on to a vessel headed for the Netherlands.

The tower will be installed on a pipe laying ship, which will work on oil pipes in Brazil.

Steven Harrison, Port of Tyne’s chief operating officer, said: “The port has built a close customer relationship with IHC since they moved to our Tyne Dock estate in 2010.

“This is one of many construction projects IHC has loaded from the port’s Riverside Quay and we hope there will be many more as the river sees more demand from the emerging oil and gas sector.”

IHC has designed, made and installed equipment for the offshore industry since 1997.

Alan Conway, IHC’s construction manager, said: “The tower was constructed for a joint venture between Sapura Kencana and Seadrill.

“It will eventually be used in the laying of underwater deep-sea flexible pipe and umbilicals essential for oil production in Brazil.”