Offshore support vessel specialist Sentinel Marine has experienced a strong start to the year with a £36 million package of contract awards and extensions to operate its fleet of emergency response and rescue vessels (ERRVs) in the North Sea.
The Aberdeen-based firm has invested in excess of £150 million building a fleet of 12 highly efficient multi-role vessels, which perform additional tasks beyond the traditional standby boat duties. The contracts are a mix of ongoing multi-year agreements and shorter-term contracts to support oilfield operators involved in decommissioning projects.
Sentinel Marine has taken delivery of eight of its 12 new build ERRVs, which are changing the face of offshore support vessel roles in the North Sea. These purpose-built ships are not only environmentally beneficial – Tier 4 compliant engines reduce emissions of particulate matter and noxious gases to near zero levels – but operationally efficient.
Chief executive officer Rory Deans said: “In an age when we are all becoming more mindful of the impact that our actions have on the environment, our clients appreciate that Sentinel Marine’s fleet is one of the cleanest and greenest in the North Sea.
“It’s estimated that our fleet is around 60% more fuel efficient than some of the oldest ERRVs in the North Sea, and as much as 30% more efficient than ships that were built only five years ago.
“Our ships were designed with operational and cost efficiency in mind: in addition to their primary role of protecting the lives of offshore workers, they can perform a wide range of tasks from oil recovery to cargo handling, which removes a need for two or more vessels to be chartered.”
New contract wins are with independent oil and gas company Chrysaor – Bailey Sentinel will be used to support decommissioning activities in the southern North Sea – and Spirit Energy, which has chartered Biscay Sentinel to support the Borr Ran drilling rig in the Irish Sea.
There has also been an extension to the contract for Mariner Sentinel, which is chartered to Equinor’s Mariner field, and for Forties Sentinel’s contract with INEOS. Forties Sentinel is currently tasked in the firm’s Breagh gas field in the southern North Sea in support of routine operations and drilling.