Our md Paul Fairhurst managed to catch this photo of the first 2 buoys crossing the Tamar Bridge from Cornwall to Devon.

The buoys are made from UV resistant  high density polyethylene with galvanised steel fittings.

seen here "fully dressed" with its lighting equipment and steel structures it will be deployed in september after the client has installed data collection equipment within the hull of the buoy.

we are also pleased to announce that we are now members of IALA - the International Association of lighthouse authorities.

Bob joined orchid plastics over 12 years ago and has been the major driving force behind the growth and sucess of the Orchid Plastics.

Bob has forged many close relationships with our customers and he will of course be missed from the daily hustle in the front office !

on behalf of all of the Orchid team and customers that have worked with bob we wish him a long and happy retirement.

apparently his garden is already looking better than ever !

The finished buoy weighs some 2 tonnes plus the ballast weight underneath of a further 2 tonnes.

The navigation buoy is being well recieved in the marine industry because of its rugged construction and reliability.

The modular concept means that buoys can be configured to suit the individual clients requirements.

All buoys are made from highest quality materials and produced under controlled manufacturing conditions.

The ‘easybuoy’ will withstand extreme sea temperatures, will not rot or rust and is available in a variety of colours including the unique ‘glow in the dark’ option, providing high visibility at night.

for further information please see  www.easybuoy.co.uk

The reason for the huge increase is the continuing high oil cost price plus worldwide shortage of ethylene and naptha feedstocks.

The market for polymers is quite volotile and we could see even further rises in the 1q and 2q.

we also note that the PPI (a Goverment managed producers price index) which tracks the prices of incoming materials to all manufacturing is showing levels of around 12% over the 2010 with almost 4% since November.

Will be working with our customers to minimse the impact of the changes but of course we will have to pass on the costs to secure own own viability !

The navigation buoys are manufactured by rotational molding using a special marine grade of Polyethylene resin for long term colourfastness and impact performance. The moldings are then filled with our special grade of Polyurethane foam to enhance the buoyancy performance. All structural steelwork is galvanised to marine standards.

Managing director "Paul Fairhurst" and other members of the marine division worked through the night to complete the first delivery which of course was achieved on time !

The new Polyurethane foam filling machine threw a fit because of the recent cold weather but the team perservered and the foam filling was finally completed.

Paul Fairhurst is seen here supervising the loading of the buoys which will be comissioned in the next few days.

Managing director Paul Fairhurst commented "The exhibition has produced a large number of serious enquiries that we will be following up in the coming weeks, it is rewarding to know that our new marine products division of Orchid plastics is off to a flying start"

The show has also generated enquiries for other rotomoulded products such as tanks for fuel, water and waste materials.

We are exhibiting at the forthcoming Marine Equipment Trade Show" (METS) in Amsterdam.

There are 5 buoys in the range from the "River Master" at 1.25m diameter to the "Ocean Admiral" at 3.6m.

The unique design is of a modular nature that will allow different configurations of buoys to be constructed to the exact specification required by the client.

Another feature that is creating a lot of interest is the fact that the buoys have a central space that can be used to carry extra equipment (for example data collection, batteries, horns etc) with relative protection from the harsh marine envoirement.