Paul Fairhurst, managing director at XJF Plastics, said: “It is a fantastic deal for the company. We have a representative [Cairo-based agent Mohamed Zikri] in Egypt who has already proved his worth to us by arranging a series of meetings with prestigious bodies.

The move follows contracts to supply specially designed lightweight buoys to Trinity House, the authority responsible for aids to navigation in British waters, and the Gambian Ports Authority in the last six months.

The rotationally moulded polyethylene buoys, a product of XJF’s Global Marine arm, are environmentally friendly requiring very little maintenance and are a third of the weight of steel buoys so time and money are saved servicing them at sea.