Company Updates

Statoil Joins VIKING’s Safety Management Success Story

Sleipner A  StatoilVIKING is ready with all the answers to a new hot topic for offshore infrastructure owners and operators at its stand at OTC 2014. The topic is single-source safety equipment servicing – and judging by industry reactions, VIKING seems to have uncovered – and solved – a significant hassle for its offshore customers.

Although its safety management offering, called the VIKING Offshore Safety Agreement, was released only last year, marine and fire safety equipment leader VIKING Life-Saving Equipment has already had a number of significant wins. Among these is a newly inked, multi-year servicing contract signed with Norwegian-based oil and gas giant Statoil for the maintenance of marine safety equipment on board 36 platforms in the North Sea.

Statoil's portfolio of marine safety equipment for its oil and gas activities is typical of similar-sized industry players. The company's rigs have been built at various times and were equipped with the best of what was available at the time of construction. Over the years, many of the products have been updated, but rarely or never as a complete installation upgrade. What's more, Statoil's platforms are designed for a variety of purposes and environments and can require, therefore, slightly different types and specifications of equipment.

The result is a mix of brands, models and vintages that demands significant time and resources to maintain. The challenges aren't Statoil's alone, but present a correspondingly difficult set of challenges for its suppliers, who are required to maintain spare parts inventories, accurate delivery times and consistent quality levels. The delivery logistics of it all are complicated, too. Unlike safety servicing for passenger or cargo ships, which can be carried out when the vessel is in port, offshore platform owners are often forced to choose between buying or renting a temporary set of liferafts to replace equipment being serviced, or to consider reducing onboard personnel for days while vital safety equipment is being maintained on shore.

The new VIKING Offshore Safety Agreement makes for significantly easier administration for Statoil's platforms and logistics staff. Previously, numerous emails and phone calls flowed between the various Statoil installations and a range of different safety equipment suppliers. And establishing and consolidating the various budgets at corporate level demanded many hours of work. VIKING now has full responsibility for its customer's liferafts and chute systems, and its offshore service planning department coordinates scheduled servicing, including coordination with supply vessel schedules.

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