Sigma secures funding to develop new mooring technology

Offshore staff

ABERDEEN, UK -- Sigma Offshore has secured funding totaling $3 million to further develop its enabling technology for stranded oil reserves.

The company received a $1.5 million investment from Scottish Enterprise's Scottish Venture Fund. The other half of the new investment has been provided by Energy Ventures, Sigma's original investor and main shareholder.

"The financial boost will enable us to continue to develop and promote our innovative mooring system while also providing the opportunity to grow our teams in Aberdeen and at strategic locations around the world," says Alistair Dornan, chief executive of Sigma.

Sigma has developed the Smart Mooring System (SMS) that connects FPSOs to subsea wells and pipelines. The novel approach, which sees the system mounted on the bow of the vessel rather than in the hull, is significantly more efficient to install than traditional methods and does not require the vessel to be dry-docked making the solution particularly suited to tanker conversions, the company says.

The system has undergone rigorous model testing at the Danish Hydraulic Institute and has received the necessary seal of approval from DNV (Det Norske Veritas) in Norway.

05/26/2009