MMA Offshore and IMC team to win with innovation
IMC noted for its design and analysis work has assisted its long duration client MMA offshore to secure a first-hand contract with ConocoPhilips. In December of last year, MMA Offshore was conferred with a five-year contract by Conocophilips for the supply of company’s platform supply vessel (PSV) Mermaid Inscription, which has been amended to offer both platform supply and static tow services in backing of Conocophilips’ operations at its Bayu Undan facility in the Timor Sea.
IMC and MMA Offshore together developed the conceptual vessel arrangement that would empower the PSV to successfully carry out static tow operations without affecting other operations on the back deck, which eliminates the need for a dedicated static tow vessel during offtake operations. Significant to the proposed changes was the installation of an additional deck over the present forward mooring deck to be fitted with an asymmetric, electrically operated, escort crane.
IMC also used its influence and its previous track record working with MARIN (the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands), a global leader in hydrodynamic and nautical research and development, to upkeep imitation of the modified PSV. The simulation served to prove the concept would enable Mermaid Inscription to successfully undertake the range of static tow operations required of the ConocoPhilips operation.
MMA’s Managing Director, Mr. Jeff Weber while commenting on the contract with ConocoPhilips said: “We are confident that our ability to collaborate with our clients and provide innovative solutions will continue to set us apart in the industry”. IMC Managing Director Justin McPherson is also of the similar sentiment, saying that helping clients’ unlock value in existing tonnage through innovation was always satisfying.
“Given the challenging market conditions currently faced by offshore support vessel operators such as MMA, we were very pleased to be able to engineer a solution that added new operational capability and flexibility to Mermaid Inscription,” he said. IMC is now on the job of completing the design work for vessel modification.
Mermaid Inscription is an 87 meter DP-2 platform supply vessel delivered to MMA Offshore in early 2013. The diesel-electric vessel was built to firefight class 1 standards and configured with 1,000m2 of open deck cargo capacity as well as under deck bulk storage.
Source: IMC
