Idwal Marine Services: investing in services and expanding overseas

Idwal Marine Services is Cardiff-based leading provider of tech-enabled inspection services to the global commercial shipping sector.

Its services which include vessel condition and integrity inspection services, fleet monitoring and data services – are relied upon by ship owners and operators, brokers, flag states, investors and other financial stakeholders.

Its Idwal Grade® asset condition rating, which enables sector benchmarking, has become a recognised standard in the industry,

The business, a certified carbon neutral organisation, was the first in its industry to include both decarbonisation metrics and crew welfare and working condition data in their reports.

Navigating overseas expansion

LDC made a significant investment in the company, led by CEO Nick Owens, to support the development of its proprietary technology platform, data and services, as well as expanding its network of overseas offices, which already includes China, Greece and Japan.

As part of the investment, Gehan Talwatte, an experienced chairman of several high-growth, private equity backed companies in the data services sector, became Non-Executive Chairman. Simon Morse, an experienced senior shipping executive with extensive marine services and private equity board expertise, was also appointed Non-Executive Director to further support the management team on their journey.

In August 2023, Idwal expanded into Asia setting up a regional HQ in Singapore. The business will now have on-the-ground expertise to provide unmatched service levels of vessel inspection and grading services to Asian owners and operators.