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17 May 2016
With the decommissioning market prospering in the current economic climate, the summer season seems to be radiating a positive glow on the offshore industry. As always, the industry is part of a balancing act, with some markets prospering more then others. However, with more people looking for work, industry leaders have learnt to adapt to the current situation to deal with the challenges ahead. One of these companies is SCALDIS Salvage & Marine Contractor NV. Today, SCALDIS broadly divides its business into five market sectors: civil construction, O&G, renewables and environmental, decommissioning and salvage.
GULLIVER'S Unique Qualities
SCALDIS specialises in offshore transportation and installation, with heavy lifting as its core business and expertise. Their newest DP 2 heavy lift vessel, GULLIVER, will arrive in Europe in the middle of 2017. Vessel Support Coordinator, Stijn Geeraerts, spoke to Atlas about the newest member of their fleet.
“The GULLIVER vessel is currently under construction at the Hong Qiang shipyard near Shanghai, China,” says Stijn. “The vessel will be deployed in different market segments within Europe and further afield. While GULLIVER will share many of the key assets of the company’s RAMBIZ vessel, it will also incorporate improved features such as increased lifting capacity of up to 4,000 tonnes; increased workability; full self-propulsion; dynamic positioning; skidding cranes; and its own helideck.”
The GULLIVER, which has been named after the book ‘Gulliver’s Travels’, is unique in its field. Its two Huisman cranes each have a lifting capacity of 2,000 tons. And the vessel’s design also allows cargo to be lifted at an increased wave height. “I’ve seen the design spec for GULLIVER and I know the market trends. The timing for this vessel is spot on, as it will be a vital tool to meet the demanding requirements for the market as it expands and evolves. Our Project Manager recently gave a presentation on the vessel’s unique qualities and it was a big moment for us at SCALDIS as we could clearly see how this vessel will help to shape the future offshore industry.”
“With HLV Rambiz we have focused on the decommissioning market,” explains Stijn. “This is an important segment for our company, especially with the number of O&G installations that need to be removed. We’ve already decommissioned several platforms over the past few years and gained an enviable track record and reputation in the industry. There are a lot of platforms in the North Sea that are coming towards the end of their economic lives and, because the oil market is declining, they are being decommissioned earlier, which means there are a lot of opportunities for SCALDIS in this market.”
Atlas an Honest Agency
Although GULLIVER is still under construction, SCALDIS has been busy recruiting in preparation for GULLIVER’s maiden voyage. “When I took over the crewing coordination from my colleague, I was introduced to Cees Luneburg at Atlas,” says Stijn. “I’ve been in contact with a number of different agencies in the past, but when I started chatting to Cees it was clear that he really knew his industry, what people we would need and the types of vessel we needed to recruit for. That’s why we use Atlas as one of our suppliers. I like working with Cees as he’s not afraid to say ‘look I have some guys, but I don’t want to put them with you because I know that they might not work out’, - he would prefer to send nobody then somebody who we might have issues with and that’s perfect for us. I would rather have an agency be honest with me then just use us to fill positions and make sales.”
To view the current vacancies for GULLIVER and with SCALDIS go to Atlas’ jobs page at www.atlasprofessionals.com/jobs.
With industry leaders and companies finding more business in their markets, it’s good to finally see positivity and passion coming back to our industry.
