FUTURE FIT FOR THE OFFSHORE OIL & GAS SECTOR
With a track record of providing offshore marine support to the Energy sector across Africa, AMSOL’s experience in meeting the specialist requirements of Clients during these typically high-risk projects is extensive. Our involvement in diverse operations means that skilled AMSOL personnel are sought after for specialist and complex projects – and each job is an opportunity to ensure that seafarers and offshore personnel build important experience.
A recent charter to Azinam in support of the drilling of an exploratory well off of South Africa’s west coast provided an opportunity for seafarers on the AHTSV ‘Umkhuseli’ to prove their anchor handling experience under offshore exploration conditions as part of a multi-disciplinary team. The ‘Umkhuseli’ conducted intensive anchor work for the Gazania Project and pre-laid an 8-leg mooring system before the rig ‘Island Innovator’ arrived on site. This process required pre-tensioning of the anchor legs to over 200 tonnes. As a result, the rig was able to immediately go onto her spread when she arrived without any down time and commenced drilling without delay. The tug provided continuity in support services to the Client’s team for the duration of the project and once the well was completed, recovered the mooring spread and returned it to Cape Town.
A number of maintenance interventions on the Single Point Mooring (SPM) terminal offshore Durban, South Africa has provided similar opportunities for exposure to new operations. In 2020 and 2021, maintenance work included the replacement of all 8 anchor legs of the mooring system. And in 2022, during a scheduled outage period, AMSOL was contracted to provide engineering, procurement and construction services for the replacement of the 70m long North and South subsea hoses. Project Teams often include junior seafarers, divers and support staff as a means of exposing personnel to nichè operations under controlled, risk managed conditions.
To ensure that we retain these scarce skills for future opportunities within the maritime sector AMSOL focuses on training and development with higher ranked seafarers playing an important role in mentoring, guiding and teaching those in lower ranks. This on-the-job training is essential for seafarers to get the experiential training required to achieve specific Certificates of Competency and exposure to new operations- and the company’s fleet of anchor handling tug supply vessels, tankers, bunker barges, offshore supply launches and specialist vessels operating in South Africa, Namibia and Ghana serve as the training platform.
