DIVING & UNDERWATER SERVICES
£25m IN UNDERWATER CONTRACTS IN SIX MONTHS A Global underwater robotic vehicle company says it is well positioned financially and across all energy sectors as it celebrates its 10th anniversary ROVOP is on a strong growth trajectory after securing contracts valued at £25m in the last six months. The Aberdeen headquartered global business has won a diverse spread of work across offshore energy sectors in Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and the Americas. The contract wins, along with a financial restructure in 2020, have placed ROVOP in robust financial health with positive cash flow and available working capital to invest in its people, services and its fleet to meet future demand. The new contracts involve dive support, inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM), decommissioning, cable lay and construction surveys for new clients, Prysmian Group and Mermaid Subsea Services Thailand, among others. ROVOP has also renewed existing contracts in the offshore wind sector after investing in its fleet with the addition of two Schilling HD work-class ROVs. Both of which will be deployed on a Scottish wind farm for EDT Offshore. Chief Executive at ROVOP, Neil Potter, said: “Having started out ten years ago focussing on the offshore wind sector and then diversifying into oil and gas, it is fitting that, as we celebrate this milestone of a decade in business, we are reporting major new contracts in renewables. We now have a healthy spread of contracts in offshore energy sectors and geographic locations around the world performing seabed surveys, UXO identification, boulder clearance, construction and cable installation support and IRM. Mr Potter said that, while it’s widely acknowledged that companies operating in oil and gas can transfer their skills into offshore wind and vice versa, it’s not always as straightforward as it appears.
“There are some fundamental differences between the sectors. But with our experience and track-record in renewables, we understand these and know how to adapt our service and technology for each. Oil and gas remain very important to us and crucial to meeting global demand for energy as we transition to cleaner, greener sources.” ROVOP employs 200 people offshore and onshore from bases in Aberdeen and Houston, with additional offices in Dubai, the Netherlands and Singapore.
8 L to R Paul Yeats, ROVOP Chief Commercial Officer and Neil Potter, CEO
Geotechnical introduction course Offshore site investigation and geotechnical engineering in the offshore environment will become more accessible with a new introductory course. The Society for Underwater Technology’s (SUT) course aims to provide a broad overview of the offshore market, and how the data acquired is applied to maximise the value of offshore projects in both the offshore oil and gas and offshore renewable energy sectors. The course is the online equivalent of the face-to-face course successfully run by the Society’s Offshore Site Investigation Group (OSIG) for several years. Chery Burgess, CEO of the SUT (right), said: “The first two days of the OSIG course have a geophysical theme, and then in week two the attention turns to the geotechnical side of things. We have an impressive list of industry
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and academic experts covering a wide range of topics, from planning an offshore site investigation through technical and operational aspects of data acquisition and reporting, to the practical use of the data in geohazard assessment and foundation design. “Our speakers are drawn from Vysus, MCL Consultancy, RPS, Bangor University, RWE, BP, University of Southampton, Gardline, Ørsted, NGI, University of Bristol, Atkins, Subsea 7, and Lloyd’s Register. Our thanks are extended to Francesca Ciavaglia of Lloyd’s Register who has co-ordinated preparation of this course.“ The online course is spread over four half days for two weeks (Tuesday and Thursday mornings) on 16, 18, 23 and 25 November. Each half-day session will include a set of oral presentations, followed by small-group
practical activities with the scope to reinforce the knowledge and get further insight on the topics presented. Small-group activities will also provide an opportunity to discuss with experts in the field, while creating an engaging and interactive environment. The course provides an excellent opportunity to network within the offshore industry.
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