James Fisher and Sons, a prominent Aberdeen-based maritime services provider, has reported a half-year trading performance in line with expectations, with robust activity in its defence division counterbalancing challenging conditions within the energy sector. The company announced revenue of approximately £190 million and an underlying operating profit of £13 million.
The latest update, released on 29 July 2026, highlighted significant year-on-year growth and improved profitability across James Fisher’s defence operations, including submarine escape and rescue, military diving, and tactical delivery vehicles.
At the same time, its Energy Division faced “challenging market conditions leading to lower activity and delays in certain shorter-cycle and project-based work,” impacting areas such as decommissioning, well testing, and offshore wind construction projects. The firm anticipates a recovery in oil and gas activity in 2027, subject to geopolitical developments and broader market conditions.
This trend reflects a broader strategic pivot within the offshore services industry, particularly in North-east Scotland, where companies initially focused on oil and gas are increasingly leveraging their expertise for defence applications.
Geopolitical factors, including the war in Ukraine, heightened tensions in the Arctic and Indo-Pacific, and growing concerns over subsea infrastructure security following events like the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage in 2022, have accelerated demand for technologies and operational capabilities refined in the region’s energy economy.
Examples of this diversification include Aberdeen-headquartered THREE60 Energy, which recently secured a five-year, multi-million-dollar indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract under the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Sustainment Readiness Program. This award covers overhaul services, technical support, and lifecycle management for davit systems on San Antonio-class amphibious warfare ships.
Further demonstrating this shift, Aberdeen-based HonuWorx became the first company to receive a NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) Rapid Adoption Service research and development contract on behalf of a NATO Ally.
The contract, awarded for Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), will see HonuWorx develop deeper-water autonomous subsea capabilities.
Peterhead engineering firm JBS Group (Scotland) Ltd is also applying its offshore engineering capabilities to defence, providing specialist blast containment solutions for the UK, Australian, Norwegian, and Canadian navies.
In Case You Missed it:
This strategic redirection aligns with broader economic projections. Analysis by EY suggests that increasing UK defence spending to between 3.5% and 5% of GDP by 2035 could generate an additional £30 billion annually for the economy by 2045.
Peter Arnold, UK Chief Economist at EY, commented: “If spent appropriately, increased defence budgets provide a dual opportunity to bolster UK security and generate lasting economic benefits that support the government’s growth agenda.”
For North-east Scotland, the opportunity lies in exporting its expertise in robotics, subsea systems, autonomous technology, and asset integrity management to meet global defence and security demands. The region’s long-standing capabilities in harsh-environment engineering are being repurposed, establishing it as a strategic hub for critical infrastructure protection and naval sustainment.
