Deep sea anchor solutions Viking Moorings

DEEP SEA ANCHOR SOLUTIONS

Viking Moorings is an international market leader in the provision of mooring solutions for semi-submersible drilling rigs and floating accommodation units. Philip Yorke looks at the company’s fast-growing portfolio of offshore services and its latest global partnership agreements.

Viking Moorings was founded 25 years ago and has gained its considerable expertise in the harsh offshore environments of the North Sea. Today Viking Moorings’ specialist offshore services are available internationally with recent operations being conducted as far afield as West Africa, Australia, Asia Pacific and China. Safety and value for money are the top priorities at the company where only the most experienced people and the highest quality equipment are employed.

This philosophy has resulted in the company becoming a long-term and trusted advisor to many of the world’s leading drilling contractors and oil and gas exploration and production companies. Viking Moorings provides a range of key assets that play a critical role in the offshore oil and gas industry and offers total mooring solutions

for specific rig locations and rig moves. The company’s wide range of products and services include design and specification, risk assessment and safety approvals, equipment rental, installation support and repair services. Viking Moorings’ mission is to become the supplier of choice for dedicated, offshore mooring systems and to offer increased efficiency and cost effectiveness for its customers.

Increasing service capabilities

In order to extend its service capabilities in the western and central Mediterranean and Middle East regions, Viking Moorings UK operations based in Aberdeen, Scotland, has signed an exclusive international agency agreement with Mainticare Limited of Malta, one of the largest marine and oil field services contractors in Malta.

Under the terms of the new agreement, signed at the end of 2010, Mainticare will offer Viking Moorings’ extensive portfolio of mooring equipment throughout the region, as well as providing management, warehousing and logistics services. The new agreement will ensure that operators with offshore exploration activities in Italy, Croatia, Libya, Algeria and Tunisia will have access to the very latest mooring solutions from Viking with a full portfolio of mooring equipment readily available at short notice. This is in addition to onsite services, such as mobile chain inspection units (MCIUs), wire rope inspection and other vital, high-value services. Mainticare will also provide mooring solutions to the Gulf States of Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In the western and central Mediterranean, as well as the eastern Mediterranean, there is a significant increase in offshore oil and gas exploration with a number of new energy companies established in the region. At the end of 2009, 16 offshore drilling rigs were working in the waters of both the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Duncan Cuthill, Viking Moorings. UK country manager said, “Viking Moorings has always prided itself on taking a global but local approach in our activities, offering an operational presence throughout the world with the ability to provide a fully resourced, responsive local service, with reduced transportation costs and a pool of highly skilled local support personnel.

“Our partnership with Mainticare is in recognition of this as well as the increase in offshore oil and gas expenditure throughout the Mediterranean. We look forward to working with Mainticare and utilising the

clear synergies which exist to extend our service provision and provide a total mooring solution to our Mediterranean and Middle Eastern customers.”

In response, Mainticare’s business development director said, “We are delighted to be partnering with an industrial leader such as Viking Moorings and bringing the latest mooring solutions to industry operators. With exploration activity continuing to grow, and operators faced with pressures to increase efficiencies and reduce costs, our association with Viking Moorings will ensure that we are very well placed to embrace the challenges the future brings. We also look forward to providing a local presence in Aberdeen to service both new and existing customers active in the Mediterranean and elsewhere.” Deep sea advantage

In another move to boost its state-of-the-art portfolio of advanced anchor systems, Viking Moorings has signed a two-year agreement with Deep Sea Anchors (DSA) of Norway. This will add the company’s advanced Torpedo Anchors, to its extensive portfolio of modern anchors. The announcement was made at the recent Deep Water Zone exhibition in Aberdeen in September 2011. DSA’s Torpedo Anchors offer precise and secure positioning as well as simplified installation in deep-water environments. The Deep Penetrating Anchor (DPA™), also known as the Torpedo Anchor, is a dynamically installed anchor which is released freely from a predetermined height over the seabed using gravity as the installation force.

The anchor penetrates well below the mud-line and sets into stiff clay sediments thus providing a secure and cost-effective solution irrespective of water depths and allowing for both taut leg and catenary mooring installations. Other benefits include simplified installation, precise positioning and the elimination of the need for hydraulic and electrical lines which are often used for traditional anchor installations.

Viking Moorings’ chief executive, Wolfgang Wandi, said, “Viking is all about providing greater innovation and choice and the optimal solution for our customers. Viking Moorings’ knowledge and presence in many countries and regions where our DPAs can be applied with success and to the great benefit of clients was a major reason for entering into this agreement.” n