SLB, Oceaneering earn 2026 NOIA Safety in Seas Awards
The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) has named SLB and Oceaneering as the 2026 recipients of its annual Safety in Seas Awards, recognizing leadership and innovation in offshore safety performance.
The NOIA Safety in Seas Award Competition is sponsored by Offshore this year.
SLB received NOIA’s Culture of Safety Award, which honors companies that demonstrate sustained, organization‑wide commitment to safety. The award recognized SLB North America Offshore’s “Safe Today, Safer Tomorrow” framework, which integrates artificial intelligence, immersive training and facility modernization to reduce risk and strengthen human performance. According to SLB, the program has contributed to zero fatalities and permanent impairments across operations, along with measurable reductions in injuries and vehicle incidents.
Oceaneering earned the Safety Practice Award for its High Hazard Task Elimination program. The initiative focuses on engineering hazards out of offshore operations rather than relying solely on behavioral controls, including the expanded use of robotic and remotely operated technologies to remove personnel from high‑risk environments. Since its launch, the program has eliminated tens of thousands of high‑hazard task occurrences and embedded accountability through performance metrics tied to leadership compensation, according to Oceaneering.
The awards were presented this week during NOIA’s Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., and both companies will present their safety programs at NOIA’s Fall Meeting later this year.
The judging panel consisted of independent offshore safety consultants as well as representatives from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the Ocean Energy Safety Institute, and EndeavorB2B's Offshore.
Editor’s note: I’m grateful to have been part of this year’s judging panel. The quality and depth of the submissions were thoroughly impressive, reflecting a strong, industrywide commitment to improving offshore safety. Kudos to SLB and Oceaneering on well‑deserved recognition!
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Ariana Hurtado
Editor-in-Chief
With more than a decade of copy editing, project management and journalism experience, Ariana Hurtado is a seasoned managing editor born and raised in the energy capital of the world—Houston, Texas. She currently serves as editor-in-chief of Offshore, overseeing the editorial team, its content and the brand's growth from a digital perspective.
Utilizing her editorial expertise, she manages digital media for the Offshore team. She also helps create and oversee new special industry reports and revolutionizes existing supplements, while also contributing content to Offshore's magazine, newsletters and website as a copy editor and writer.
Prior to her current role, she served as Offshore's editor and director of special reports from April 2022 to December 2024. Before joining Offshore, she served as senior managing editor of publications with Hart Energy. Prior to her nearly nine years with Hart, she worked on the copy desk as a news editor at the Houston Chronicle.
She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Houston.