EnerMech wins £3m Maersk contract

The three-year deal, with the possibility of a further two-year extension, covers Maersk’s operations in UK waters.

John Morrison, EnerMech’s cranes and lifting director, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this major crane contract. Our aim is to not only provide excellent service, but to deliver additional value through existing, complimentary contracts already in place.”

The contract covers all the on-deck cranes on two floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) ships – Gryphon and Global Producer III – and the Janice floating production unit (FPU). All three vessels currently sail out of Aberdeen. The contract marks EnerMech’s first FPSO deal with Maersk.

The Danish firm entered the UK market in 2005 when it bought the British assets of US explorer Kerr McGee.

Maersk bought ten production fields through the deal and has since won a series of exploration licences, taking its holding in the North Sea and North Atlantic to 50 fields, with the firm acting as operator on around half of the developments.

The Scottish company said it would use its new “EnerMech Live” online crane management system on the new contract, which will allow Maersk to “view critical documentation, from certificates through to inspection reports, thereby increasing visibility of the vessel’s cranes certification status and regulatory compliance”.

EnerMech, which was formed in 2008, employs about 800 staff at its UK bases in Aberdeen and Great Yarmouth and abroad in Australia, China, Dubai, Ghana, Indonesia, Norway, Qatar, Singapore and South Africa.

In July 2010, EnerMech signed a £24m funding deal with Lloyds Banking Group, which – along with cash from private equity firm Lime Rock Partners and other shareholders – gives the company access to a £40m warchest for acquisitions.

The company mounted a series of takeovers over the past three years, including Norson Power for £11m.