O&G services firm Bibby Offshore enters renewables arena

Bibby Offshore, the UK-based firm mainly known as a provider of subsea services to the oil & gas industry, is venturing into renewables.

The company has purchased a power cable lay carousel from subsea engineering specialist, Ecosse Subsea Systems (ESS), which will enable laying of power cables for offshore wind projects from its vessels.

Bibby said in a statement on Wednesday that the company has also entered into a ‘strategic alliance’ with ESS by signing a framework agreement. This will see Bibby provide its commercial expertise and subsea project management and ESS providing innovation and sector competence.

The company added that the entry into a new market is complementary to Bibby Hydromap’s offshore survey capability and Bibby Marine Services investment in a newbuild ‘walk to work’ service operation vessel, the Bibby WaveMaster 1 to be built by Damen.

Fraser Moonie, Chief Operating Officer of Bibby Offshore said: “We are very excited by our entry into the cable lay market which strengthens our renewables offering in the North Sea. We have worked with ESS in the subsea market for more than a decade, and this new strategic alliance will help us further our offshore offering and support our diverse client base.”

Mike Wilson, Managing Director of Ecosse Subsea Systems, said: “We are delighted to be collaborating with Bibby Offshore in the offshore wind arena. This will enable us to tackle much bigger projects and clients with the opportunity to use a genuine UK owned and operated supply chain in this sector.”