About Us

The company’s origins trace back to the 1918 salvage of the sunken steamship Gascony off Littlehampton, where a 9-ton bronze propeller proved difficult to recover. After multiple failed attempts using experimental “Air Bags” to lift the propeller from the seabed, the team recognized the potential of this innovative lifting method.

Years later, inspired by those early experiments, J W Automarine was founded in 1972 to develop and manufacture marine Air Bags for salvage and lifting operations. What began as an improvised solution during a World War I recovery effort evolved into a pioneering business in underwater lifting technology.

On November 24th 1972 Crestbury (under the crest of the wave lies buried treasure!) Ltd trading as JW Automarine was incorporated.

After moving to Norfolk to work for the company producing the first airbags, the founder soon faced a conflict of interest between his job and promoting the airbag idea. When offered £700 to sell the airbag concept, he instead chose independence and left to start his own business.

With limited funds, he set up J W Automarine’s first workshop in an old chicken shed in Holy. Banks and investors initially dismissed the airbag idea, but a fortunate meeting with American venture financier Jim Mann provided the crucial funding needed to buy materials, equipment, and hire staff.

The company’s first employee, Ted Bunton, a former Regimental Sergeant Major, was soon joined by Andrew Turner, who would later become Production Director. Business gradually grew, including a notable contract to supply lift bags for Universal Studios’ film Airport ’77.

As demand increased, the company began attracting international attention culminating in a call from the Netherlands about lifting a massive 230,000-ton oil rig. This marked the beginning of J W Automarine’s expansion from a humble chicken shed into a key player in marine lifting innovation.

The Andoc – Our First Nightmare

In February 1975, J W Automarine received a call from a Dutch engineer seeking help to lift a concrete oil platform in Rotterdam Harbour. Believing it to be a manageable 500-ton job, the founder agreed without hesitation. Only to discover that the platform, part of the Andoc project under Royal Dutch Shell and Tarmac, actually weighed over 230,000 tons.

The harbour was too shallow for the massive structure, and the only solution was to float it out. The engineers’ initial ideas using polystyrene or ping-pong balls for buoyancy were impractical, so JWA proposed using 500-ton capacity airbags inside the platform’s nine chambers.

Months later, the consortium revived the project and, doubting their own research team’s conclusions, directly ordered 45 giant airbags from JWA, to be delivered by July 1976, just five months away.

The small company suddenly faced its biggest challenge yet: designing, manufacturing, and installing enormous airbags capable of lifting one of the world’s largest offshore platforms. The project became JWA’s first major test of innovation and endurance, a defining moment in its history.

In early 1976, J W Automarine faced a monumental challenge: producing 45 giant 500-ton airbags in just 156 days for Royal Dutch Shell’s Andoc oil platform, scheduled to leave Rotterdam Harbour on 6 July 1976.

To meet the deadline, the founders secured 17 tons of material from Germany, but initial manufacturing efforts in Waltham Cross failed the contractor couldn’t make rounded corners, leaving the first test bag unusable. Despite the setback, the team quickly found new partners in Germany and the Netherlands, who successfully began producing the massive airbags.

Installation posed another major obstacle. Each one-ton bag had to be fitted 27 metres underwater, requiring two teams of divers. When delays led Shell to doubt their progress, JWA negotiated extra funding just as they discovered how to correctly position the airbags.

From that breakthrough, progress accelerated dramatically. The team completed installation two days ahead of schedule, transforming a near-disaster into a triumph. The success of the Andoc project not only proved JWA’s capability under extreme pressure but also earned them enough to purchase their first factory, marking a turning point in the company’s growth.