Offshore Solutions BV (OSBV), the joint venture between AMEC and Cofely Nederland NV, has signed a North Sea contract with Maersk Oil UK to provide marine access support to the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit Global Producer III.

Located 185 miles north east of Aberdeen, Scotland, OSBV’s Offshore Access System (OAS) will support the shutdown operations for a minimum of 110 days, with options to extend.

The walk to work system is deployed on the REM Installer, a new-build offshore subsea construction vessel chartered by Canyon Offshore, the marine contracting business unit of Helix Energy Solutions. Sea trials for the project were completed in North Sea waters in July with operations starting later the same month.

Lindsay Young, managing director of OSBV, said: “OAS equipped vessels provide safe and cost effective marine transfer and offshore accommodation allowing for greater access to offshore installations than by crew vessels or helicopters. By using the OAS, additional offshore man-hours are made available, enhancing production whilst ensuring that workers are transported in a safe manner.

Rob Armstrong, walk to work project manager for Maersk Oil UK added: “Having personally investigated several walk to work options, the Offshore Access System (OAS) proved to be the most reliable, with a track record of high connection rates and excellent operability. Maersk Oil UK undertook an intensive hazard identification procedure to select the safest system for the project and the OAS heave compensated marine access system that we examined complies with Maersk's very stringent safety standards. Fitted on-board the REM Installer, which is a new build, state of the art DPII vessel, we are expecting even greater performance than previously experienced.”

Tags: Maersk Oil, Offshore Solutions B.V.