King Charles meets aspiring engineers during visit to underwater industry hub

Monarch met pupils on a tour of the Global Underwater Hub's headquarters in Aberdeenshire

Britain's King Charles III looks at diving apparatus during his visit to the Global Underwater Hub in Westhill, Aberdeenshire. Reuters

King Charles III was shown a scaled-down replica of a remote-operated underwater vehicle built by young engineers during a visit in Scotland on Friday.

The king met Mintlaw Academy pupils while touring the headquarters of the industry trade body Global Underwater Hub in Westhill, Aberdeenshire.

The aspiring engineers had entered their replica into a competition sponsored by the hub which aims to inspire young people to work in the underwater industry.

The school's deputy principal Ali Hynd said the link-up aimed to show pupils examples of where knowledge of Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects can be applied in the real world.

He said: “This project has given me the opportunity to bring industry into the classroom to make industry real, as well as getting some life-changing experiences for young people.

“Today without a doubt is one of those life-changing experiences, getting to meet His Majesty.”

Mr Hynd said some of the youngsters now have ambitions to become mechanical engineers and marine biologists off the back of their involvement in the project, while others are considering more specific roles.

“They've all got quite different ideas and that's the good thing about this project,” he said.

During his visit, the king also piloted an unmanned ship carrying a remote operating vehicle, which was inspecting a wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands.

Staff had brought all the equipment needed to operate the ship into the offices to demonstrate the technology to the king.

On the second floor of the building, the monarch talked at length with GUH board members and several underwater technology companies demonstrating the latest in deep diving equipment, 3D underwater visualisations and marine science.

The king also unveiled a plaque to commemorate his visit, and GUH chief executive Neil Gordon made a rallying speech to staff to keep up the good work.