Complete solutions for mooring and lifting

Franklin Offshore has grown from its origins in South East Asia to become a global provider of lifting and mooring equipment and services to the offshore oil and gas industry.

Franklin Offshore was established in Singapore in 1984 to supply lifting and moving services and equipment to the offshore oil industry in the South East Asia region. Today it is a leading supplier of integrated mooring and rigging services to the offshore oil and gas industry not only in South East Asia but also, through subsidiaries and associated companies, in Australia, Indonesia, the Netherlands, South Korea, the USA, Qatar, Malaysia and Azerbaijan. The company offers total solutions to the mooring and rigging requirements of its customers and maintains its leading position in the market through global investment in strategically located service centres, supported by products and equipment that are specifically designed for the international offshore exploration and construction industries.

Franklin Offshore’s principal manufacturing facilities are located at its Singapore headquarters, where it also has 210 metres of waterfront to support the wide range of its activities.

Franklin Offshore’s mooring services involve the fastening and anchoring of offshore rigs, platforms, vessels and other structures to the ocean floor to ensure that they remain stationary during exploration and production operations. These mooring services include both temporary and permanent mooring. Its temporary mooring services include the installation, retrieval and reinstallation of mooring systems for mobile offshore drilling units such as semi-submersibles and floaters as they are moved from one well to another during the oil and gas exploration and development phase. Over the last ten years Franklin has completed over 50 such temporary mooring projects.

The company’s permanent mooring services involve the one-time installation of mooring systems, typically for a floating production or storage vessel and for the entire duration of the production phase of a well. Since 2008 Franklin has completed five permanent mooring projects.

Franklin’s mooring services also include the sale and leasing of mooring equipment such as anchors, anchor lines, mooring chains, buoys and deepwater swivels as well as the sale of oilfield equipment.

In fact, Franklin Offshore acts as a single source for virtually all of the equipment and services required to develop, install and operate both temporary and permanent mooring systems. It is able to supply most of these services and equipment entirely in-house; permanent mooring projects, however, are usually carried out through a combination of in-house and sub-contracted services and equipment.

Rigging solutions

Franklin Offshore’s rigging services consist of the lifting and securing of a wide range of equipment, machinery, vessels etc, both onshore and offshore. They include the lifting of heavy production equipment and structures onto oil and gas platforms as well as the sea-fastening of cargo and the towing of vessels. The company generally provides all the rigging equipment required in these lifting operations. Other rigging services include inspection, load testing and spooling and termination of steel wire rope.

Franklin also sells and leases rigging equipment such as drill lines, pendant wires, shackles, cable-laid slings, crane hoist ropes; it also sells oilfield equipment.

In addition to these mooring and rigging services, Franklin also provides its customers with design and fabrication services, in particular for customised pieces of mooring and rigging equipment. The company also provides some vessel chartering services.

Expanding fleet

Franklin Offshore currently operates a fleet of nine vessels, including two crane barges, four transportation barges, two test barges

and one pipe-lay barge. At the end of 2011 the company took delivery of a new accommodation and construction work barge, the Franklin Victory. This 12,200 tonne vessel is equipped with a 520 tonne capacity revolving crane and a heavy-duty storage deck and has accommodation for up to 240 people. There is also a helipad for helicopter logistics support. The addition of the Franklin Victory to the fleet significantly enhances the company’s ability to provide turnkey solutions for offshore permanent mooring installation projects.

Other major vessels in the Franklin fleet include the Isamigo No 3, a shallow-draft barge with a 200 tonne capacity revolving crane that supports projects such as marine salvage, the lifting and transportation of oilfield equipment and the deployment of mooring and riser systems. The Wakaei Maru No 8 is another shallow draft work barge with a 100 tonne revolving crane that is used for similar operations.

As well as a shallow water pipe lay barge (the Tekkai) and a test barge (Franklin 2001), Franklin also operates a range of heavy duty transportation barges that provide logistics support for its mooring and rigging operations. These barges can be equipped with additional project-specific equipment such as hydraulic piling hammers, diving support systems and cross tension winches.

Inspection and logistics

Franklin Offshore’s other operations include expert inspection services of all lifting and mooring equipment in the oil and gas exploration and construction industry. From a small shackle to a heavy lift crane, Franklin’s engineers can verify that the equipment is safe for continued use. The company can also provide logistics support on both a short-term, project-specific basis and on a long-term total support basis. From its marine logistics water front support base in the Singapore yards at Pandan and Pioneer, it can provide a total logistics package to enable customers to reduce operational time and cost, and increase efficiency.

Franklin Offshore’s expertise has been recognised across the world. It was awarded the Enterprise 50 award by Accenture and The Business Times in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and by KPMG and The Business Times in 2008. This award recognises Franklin as among the 50 most enterprising private companies in Singapore. Indeed, in 2008 Franklin was ranked No 1. n