VIKING: 80% of Offshore Operators Could Simplify Safety Servicing Logistics

VIKING’s Offshore Safety Agreements are providing welcome relief for offshore operators seeking to ensure compliance for their safety equipment with minimal in-house administrative overheads in a new, cost-focused paradigm.
 
With Offshore Europe fast approaching (September 8-11, 2015), VIKING Life-Saving Equipment, the leading manufacturer of marine safety equipment and the largest provider of servicing worldwide, will be on hand to help offshore operators and drilling rig owners optimize their safety equipment logistics. In the company’s experience, this operations critical activity can be simplified and streamlined for more than 80 percent of offshore sites, reducing administrative overheads and lowering compliancy risks as a result.
 
“Offshore operators are struggling with many issues right now,” says VIKING’s CEO Henrik Uhd Christensen. “And, while purchasing safety equipment is a relatively minor investment, managing servicing, training, compliancy and HSE compatibility is business-critical and can take many man-hours. Our Offshore Safety Agreements are purpose-built to streamline these activities. But the vast majority of operators and asset owners simply aren’t aware of their potential.”
 
Bottom Line Focus
For many offshore asset owners, safety equipment servicing is a mish-mash of multiple brands, fluctuating costs and complex administration, combining to form a constant threat to their ability to stay in operation.
 
“With the bottom line firmly in focus, it’s absolutely crucial that every piece of the safety logistics puzzle works like clockwork,” says Henrik Uhd Christensen. “Service scheduling and notification needs to be automatic, parts need to turn up in the right place at the right time, and there must be minimal impact on the rig’s ability to operate. At the same time, care must be taken to avoid being locked into an inflexible solution with the wrong equipment or servicing procedures in a changing market.”
 
Customizable Solutions 
VIKING Offshore Safety Agreements are designed to take care of multi-brand safety equipment servicing with a wide range of customizable solutions. First introduced in 2013, they ensure transparent, predictable cost structures, as well as servicing procedures that won’t jeopardize full POB capacity – and they provide unparalleled breadth of purchase, servicing and exchange options.
 
The agreements cover a wide range of liferafts, vacuum-packed immersion suits, lifejackets and suit/lifejacket combinations. Equipment with extended service intervals can be supplied depending on flag state approvals. Two different suit models are available – one in traditional neoprene, the other a multi-layer model that can be more easily donned and which provides a closer fit. Also included in the range of products covered are recently released high-visibility yellow products that have been tested in the UK.
 
“Essentially, we’ve managed to build a one-stop-shop with high product availability that allows offshore operators to get the safety equipment they need and pair it up with extremely efficient servicing arrangements where they don’t have to worry whether everything is compliant and compatible,” says Henrik Uhd Christensen. “We can take care of it all from A to Z.”