Viking Life-Saving Equipment Looks to the Future

There was a lot on the horizon for Viking Life-Saving Equipment when the Maritime Executive met up with the company at the 2015 Offshore Technology Conference. 

The offshore market segment was a clear focus as Viking unveiled a record breaking 81 meter chute-based evacuation system. Previously, the limit for such a solution was considered to be 64 meters, however, Viking had to adapt to new unprecedented heights for a super-sized Nobel Drilling jack-up rig being constructed in Singapore. VIKING Life-Saving Equipment vice president Benny Carlsen commented that “The task hasn’t simply required us to extend an existing chute, but to revisit much of the design to accommodate new structural challenges.”

When speaking to MarEx, Alexander Gundersen, who manages Global Offshore Sales seemed unfazed by lower oil prices in the world market. “We have to work smarter,” he said, adding that the company had turned its attention to multidisciplinary servicing. Viking has come up with Offshore Safety Agreements inspired by the maritime market where clients sign a fixed-price agreement and Viking serves as a centralized source for all safety services and equipment. This type of service agreement ensures the client has a good understanding of costs and expectations ahead of time and does not run into surprises over the course of the contract.

The Viking team also spoke about their latest safety suits, which are all based on a common underlying technology that adapts internal temperatures to keep the wearer safe in extreme environments. The transportation suit was designed to be very comfortable for use in aviation settings and the new yellow line of high visibility suits have been facilitating rescue operations due to the change from traditional orange suits. 

When asked about the prospects for the future Gundersen remarked, “they are good. We are positive and doing a lot of research and development.” Viking is currently working closely with a number of operators that have new projects materializing.

“We are expanding the business,” Gundersen added, “based on the feedback we get, we are leading the segment in terms of safety.”