Boskalis Subsea Services said it has secured several contracts in the North Sea over the last six months that are worth more than £100 million ($126 million) combined. These include the Total Tyra redevelopment project, an inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) campaign for Repsol Sinopec, a decommissioning contract with Spirit Energy, a scale squeeze scope for Premier Oil’s Huntington field.
As a result of these contracts, the Aberdeen-headquartered company has created around 30 new jobs since February, bringing its total workforce in the Granite City up to more than 80. The team has booked 750 vessel days with the company's bespoke dive support vessels BOKA Atlantis, BOKA DaVinci and BOKA Constructor for 2019. A further 1,000 days are booked for 2020 and beyond, with more than 600 coming from an IRM project in the Middle East.
The subsea services firm has also taken more space at its new purpose-built offices in Westhill, Aberdeenshire. The 10-year lease is now for 8,565 square feet over two floors with capacity to accommodate planned, future growth.
Part of Boskalis’ offshore energy division, Boskalis Subsea Services serves the UK, Norwegian and Canadian markets, with contracts in the rest of the world managed from Boskalis’ Papendrecht head office.
Boskalis Subsea Services was established in Aberdeen four years ago as a sales office, and in the third quarter of 2018 it set up its operation center in the city. The company said it is aiming to fill a gap in the market for a smaller, nimbler subsea construction company with a focus on construction work and IRM.
Stuart Cameron, managing director of Boskalis Subsea Services, said, “As predicted in a recovering market, the major players are going after the larger contracts and there is a natural space for a more agile, responsive service that is committed to the highest standards in health, safety, quality and environmental performance along with first class project execution.
“With our 30 year’s diving legacy, can-do culture and experienced personnel, we are able to work flexibly to provide solutions for our customers and challenge the norm for subsea EPIC [engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning] and IRM delivery. We are continually developing fit-for-purpose, cost-effective and safe ways of tackling underwater construction, inspection and repair.”
In addition to the recent contract awards, Boskalis reports it has also secured Master Service Agreements with most of the operators in the North Sea and is well on its way to becoming an established and recognized subsea engineering and construction partner in the UK, Norway and Canada.
Cameron added, “Last year, Boskalis decided to give the UK more focus which has driven the growth in Aberdeen, where we are able to offer our customers diving services, SURF [subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines] delivery and, of course, specialist IRM solutions.
“As Boskalis, we can offer unique fully integrated project delivery solutions in a single contract.
“We have the strength and depth of capability and assets required for any job.”