Lifeboats' contract highlights vital safety role

Four gleaming refurbished lifeboats were hoisted back aboard the Noble Julie Robertson jack-up rig in Great Yarmouth’s outer harbour last week. But as managers and staff at the town’s Survival Systems International (SSI) UK headquarters celebrated the completion of the job, the company also underlined the life-and-death importance of its role.

“Obviously, we’re delighted to successfully conclude the refurbishment, one of £2m worth of new contracts we landed just before Christmas,” said George Teece, SSI’s vice-president of Eastern Hemisphere operations. “But the figure we really need to stress is that, over the years, 65 evacuations at sea have seen more than 2,200 people safely removed from any danger by survival capsules manufactured by SSI.”

The latest evacuation in Malaysia last December was little reported at the time but Mr Teece said it emphasised the critical value of their work. “A fire broke out on an offshore production platform in the South China Sea. It was undergoing a scheduled shutdown for planned maintenance and had 108 people onboard,” he said. “Although six of the crew were injured in the fire, all 108 were safely evacuated using three survival capsules manufactured by SSI.

The injured workers were transported to a local hospital for treatment, while the remaining 102 were returned to their families onshore. “It confirmed our reputation as the lifeboat manufacturer with the best safety evacuation record in the oil and gas industry,” he added. “And it underlines the importance of the job we have just completed for the Noble rig which has carried out exploration work and servicing existing wells for operators in the Southern North Sea since 2000 and carries a crew of 60-98 people.”

SSI has a team of 35 at its Great Yarmouth base, principally inspecting, servicing and refurbishing lifeboats on offshore rigs. It also inspects and maintains lifeboats on cruise ships.

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