Swire Oilfield Services

Carrying the load

Established in 1979, Swire Oilfield Services forms part of the John Swire and Sons Limited conglomerate, a highly diversified, global powerhouse that celebrated its two hundredth anniversary in 2016. Today, Swire Oilfield Services (SOS) is the world’s largest supplier of specialist offshore cargo carrying units to customers operating in the global energy industry. Also at the forefront of the supply of offshore workspaces, testing and helifuel & chemical management, the company has 500 employees working in 28 different countries.

“In everything we do, our mission is to provide safe and highly cost-efficient services and solutions to the cargo handling and logistics industries, with a particular focus on the oil and gas sector and its supply chain,” notes Manfred Vonlanthen, CEO of Swire Oilfield Services.

Headquartered in Aberdeen, Swire Oilfield Services’ initial focus centred on servicing customers predominantly based in the UK and Norway. “We have our roots in the North Sea,” agreed Manfred, “but over the last decade we have extended our operation on a global basis. From our 58 locations, we are now present across all of the key global regions, including the United States, Brazil, Africa, the North Sea, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and are able to supply our customers with what is the largest fleet of DNV certified offshore cargo carrying units and containers in the industry.”

As the oil and gas industry has evolved over the years, so too has Swire Oilfield Services. “We have successfully extended our service offering to include other parts of our customer’s value chain and in the area of Asset life cycle management,” Manfred states. “As a result of this diversification, we are able to provide a complete turnkey solution, embracing everything from design and fabrication to certification, offshore workspaces, testing & inspection and chemical management.”

Swire Oilfield Services’ team of in-house engineering staff assist the company in providing standard, specialised and tailored products that are certified to DNV 2.7-1 or EN 12079. Its extensive hire fleet of approximately 55,000 units allows for immediate, 24-hour-a-day access to a comprehensive range of products. By developing a diverse range of services, a proven reputation and an ability to exceed its customers’ requirements, Swire Oilfield Services has seen consistent and healthy interest from the market.

“Alongside our offering of DNV certified container rentals, we are also witnessing increased demand for our inspection services and maintenance offerings,” Manfred adds. “This comes at a time when our customers are looking to optimise their supply chains to achieve the appropriate cost savings and efficiencies.”

The company has also invested heavily in recent years in its fleet, facilities and technology. “In 2016, we opened our new, modern, environmentally friendly washing facility in Norway,” Manfred enthuses. “Here we are able to wash both our own and third party equipment and chemical tanks, while recycling 97 per cent of the by product, including spill water. This is just one of the advances we have made towards being an ever more energy-efficient and environmentally -friendly business.”

From a technological perspective, one of the company’s most exciting recent developments has been the creation of its OverVu asset/ equipment life cycle management solution. With this, Swire Oilfield Services is able to offer track and trace, certification management and other associated services that support its own turnkey approach. “We have also invested in our own procedures and developed an operational excellence programme,” Manfred points out. “This process began in 2014 and has since been introduced across the business, with accreditation offered to silver, gold and platinum standards. We roll out best practice operational and HSEQ approaches throughout the globe so that our customers have the peace of mind of knowing that when they deal with Swire Oilfield Services they can expect the same level of high quality service, whether they are based in Africa, Asia or Norway.

“Before the oil and gas downturn Swire Oilfield Services biggest growth areas had been South East Asia, Africa and Brazil, however with the recent steady rise in the oil price we have started to witness an increase of activities in the land business, particularly in the United States. In response to this Swire Oilfield Services is making encouraging moves towards becoming more involved in this area of the industry to capitalise on the demand for its services.” Having transitioned into an all-in-one provider of services, and one with a keen eye on market developments and opportunities, Swire Oilfield Services’ focus on performance, quality, efficiency and best practice HSEQ has proven to be a winning combination. “In the months and years to come we will continue to shape our company in order to ensure our customers remain part of an ever-more efficient value chain,” Manfred concludes. “We will continue to develop our own service offering, expanding and evolving in different aspects of the value chain, while also investing in our people, our facilities and technology. By doing so we will remain an easy, attractive company to do business with and that is exactly what we want to achieve.”

Swire Oilfield Services
Services: Offshore Containers & Equipment, Inspection & Maintenance, Chemical & Helifuel Services, Fabrication & Modifications, Asset Tracking