Supply Service: Faroe Islands’ Keystone in Offshore Oil and Gas Support
Perfect delivery
With a mission to provide reliable and safe supply services for international offshore oil and gas production companies, Supply Service is a ship owner and manager based in the Faroe Islands:
“When it comes to operating within the offshore sector, this is a relatively new business,” explains Jens Meinhard Rasmussen, managing director of the company. “Based in the Faroe Islands, Supply Service’s history dates back to 1970, when it began working within the local fishing industry.
“It wasn’t until somewhat recently, 2006 to be exact, that the decision was taken to use the company’s experience within the maritime industry to enter the offshore sector, a move that was marked with the contracting of its first offshore support vessel, the M/V Eldborg PSV. The move into offshore work was very much a natural step for Supply Service due to the amount of maritime knowledge it has built up over the previous three decades, as well as the access it has to highly skilled, qualified seamen.”
From the offset it was clear to all within the company that it should position itself towards the high-end oil and gas market, focusing its efforts solely on the North Sea. “At this stage in the company’s life, taking a vessel as far afield as Brazil and Africa, while not impossible, would be a considerable challenge. Nevertheless it has been proven that once a business has shown it can fulfil the requirements of company’s here in the North Sea, it can expect to fulfil them anywhere,” Jens continues. “Even before it was delivered, a long-term contract had already been agreed with Norsk and Wintershall for the use of the M/V Eldborg and this has been working successfully in the North Sea since 2009.
“In September 2011 the company took delivery of its second vessel, a Havyard 832L design dubbed Saeborg. This vessel has similarly been tied down to a long-term agreement, which will begin in January 2012, and will hopefully be joined in the not-too-distant future by a further two vessels, one a Havyard 833 model and the other a Havyard 832L. Like their predecessors, these vessels are both being built in Norway and will mark the doubling in size of Supply Service’s fleet to four vessels in 2012.”
Rather than being a detriment to its business activities, the rather modest size of Supply Service has helped the company differentiate itself in several beneficial ways: “As a relatively small organisation, Supply Service possesses a strong degree of flexibility,” Jens states. “Further to this, it has also worked tirelessly over the years to create a reputation as an efficient and reliable company. The ambition all along has been to build a shipping company that Servicecreates long-term value for its customers, thus becoming their preferred choice of service supplier. Supply Services has a slogan that states “striving for perfection”. Perfection is the goal, and in keeping with this belief it is always striving to improve its processes, in order to change for the better, and is why it will never be a company that is satisfied with simply meeting the status quo.”
Equally keen to stress that it is not in business simply to make a quick profit, Supply Services’ fundamental mission is to show both its existing and new customers that by choosing to work with it they can be assured of receiving the highest quality of service: “So far everyone associated with the company is very happy and positive about what it has achieved in a little over five years within the oil and gas market,” Jens says, before revealing another reason for his optimism. “In the summer of 2012 a drilling campaign, led by Statoil and ExxonMobil, will commence off the coast of the Islands. This is an event that will be of great interest to Supply Service and a number of other businesses and one that be watched very closely indeed.
“In the meantime the company will continue to follow its carefully laid out strategy to build up a diverse fleet of modern PSV’s. For a small business operating in the Faroe Islands like Supply Service this obviously takes time, but there is no doubt it is very much on the right track and will remain a player within the offshore sector for many years to come.”
Supply Service
Services: Offshore service supplier