Maersk Oil hires Semco Maritime for Culzean hook-up work

Engineering and contracting company Semco Maritime will take part in hook-up operations of Maersk Oil’s new gas field in the UK sector of the North Sea when the production units arrive from Singapore in the summer of 2018.

Maersk Oil UK has selected Semco Maritime to participate in the installation and preparation of the new gas production field Culzean, which is located 240 kilometers east of the coast of Aberdeen. Semco Maritime will be responsible for carrying out the electrical work, while the piping and painting work will be carried out by two other companies.

According to Semco’s statement on Wednesday, this is the largest order ever for the company’s Aberdeen office.

Recently, Maersk Oil selected Maersk Supply Service to project manage the complete towing, mooring installation and hook up service scopes for the Culzean project.

Preparation in Singapore

The Culzean complex consists of a central processing platform, a wellhead platform, and a living quarter platform, which are currently under construction at the Sembcorp Marine yard in Singapore. Production from the natural gas field is expected to start in 2019. In Singapore, Semco Maritime will now set up a team of hook up specialists to prepare the installation work in order to have everything planned when the platforms arrive in the North Sea next summer, says Vice President Carsten Nielsen, Semco Maritime.

“We are very pleased that Maersk Oil UK has chosen us for this project, which marks a breakthrough for us in the UK. The order also confirms Semco Maritime’s strategy of including our competences and offshore experience in a close cooperation with customers in the North Sea, who seek highly specialized assistance within maintenance projects or hook up of new installations,” says Nielsen.

75-150 jobs in Aberdeen

The offshore work will be carried out from the base in Aberdeen, where Semco Maritime expects to employ 75-150 people for the approx. 8-9 months it will take to prepare Culzean.

Director James Cooper, Semco Maritime Ltd., Aberdeen, said: “The order shows the advantages of being represented with locations and experts in the same geographic areas as our customers. From our Singapore office, we can plan the work optimally, and thereby increase efficiency and minimize costs, when work is to be completed in the North Sea.”

During the period, the order will create jobs for approx. 20 people in Esbjerg, both internally in Semco Maritime and at Fanø Fran Service and Ocean Team Scandinavia, who have been selected as sub-suppliers for parts of the work. Semco Maritime’s total contract is expected to exceed 100,000 working hours offshore. The Culzean field will cover 5 per cent of the gas demand in the UK in 2020/21.