Design and manufacture of pioneering ‘Citadel’ refuge to protect people from terrorists and pirates secures prestigious recognition
Design and manufacture of pioneering ‘Citadel’ refuge to protect people from
terrorists and pirates secures prestigious recognition
The design and manufacture of pioneering safe havens to protect personnel operating in
high risk environments has secured a prestigious Queen’s Award for Innovation for
Humberside-based Crewshield.
The business founded in 2011 by former MCDO Mike Samways initially designed and
manufactured its Citadel refuge to be a safe haven for the crews of merchant vessels to
retreat to when threatened by pirate attack such as those off the coast of Somalia.
The Queens awards for Enterprise are the highest official accolades for businesses within
the United Kingdom and are conferred by Her Majesty the Queen on the advice of the Prime
Minister.
But the 2013 attack on a gas plant in Algeria by terrorists linked to al-Qaeda - which ended
with the deaths of about 40 foreigners including six British citizens – proved to be the
catalyst for a substantial rise in demand for a land-based application of the refuge.
Crewshield now provides its Citadel to private companies, governments and the United
Nations with key export markets including the Middle East and North Africa.
Outwardly indistinguishable from an ‘ordinary’ shipping container the Citadels can be
delivered in a range of configurations, either as 40’ or 20’ units and are. Internally however it
is a different story, typically each 20’ safe haven can accommodate 25 personnel and boasts
internal power capacity for 96 hours with air conditioning, lighting and communications
systems.
Following completion of the prototype in 2012, the product was developed to provide a
transportable, self-contained and rapidly deployable secure facility complete with all power,
water and other utilities and ready for occupation. Its presence allows rescue forces
boarding a vessel or retaking a compound following an incident to easily secure the area,
knowing that friendly personnel are safely contained within the citadels’ secure, armoured
environment.
The patented refuge is designed and manufactured in the United Kingdom for worldwide
deployment. The company currently employs 5 staff and manufactures its products
predominantly in Hull and Humberside.
Mike Samways said: “It still surprises me occasionally that an idea that I formed whilst acting
as a boarding officer in HMS Cardiff could now be deployed in over 20 countries!”