A new engineering company has been established in Gothenburg to focus on mobile offshore installations. Bassoe Technology is the latest addition to the group of offshore companies associated with the Bassoe Group, led by Norwegian investor Erland Bassøe, chairman of Bassoe Technology and Bassoe Offshore.
Others in the group include Floatel International (flotels), FPSOcean (FPSOs), BassDrill (tender drilling rigs), Scorpion Drilling (jackup drilling rigs), SeaJacks (jackup liftboats), and Hercules Offshore (liftboats). Part of the rationale behind establishing Bassoe Technology last year was to provide these companies with sorely needed engineering capability, according to vice president Acke Dahlman.
Bassoe Technology has developed a basic tender rig design for its Houston-based affiliate, BassDrill.
The board considered various locations with established offshore milieus, including Stavanger, Bergen, and Kristiansand. “In the end, we found an interesting environment in Gothenburg with a long tradition from shipping and offshore,” says board member Truls Rosenberg.
The Swedish west coast city is home to a large cluster of companies serving the offshore industry, many with roots going back to the earliest days of North Sea activity. Its standing in this respect is strengthened by the presence of university and research bodies with strong marine and offshore interests, notably Chalmers University of Technology, also a source for recruiting engineers.
Within a few months Bassoe Technology has assembled a 25-strong team, says Rosenberg. The majority are from floater engineering specialist GVA Consultants, including Dahlman himself, marketing manager Robert Ludwigson, and managing director Lars Felix. By summer, employee numbers should be up to 30. But even recently, the company was obliged to employ more than 10 outside consultants to handle the workload.
Bassoe Technology’s first job for one of its sister companies in the group is to develop a basic tender rig design for Houston-based BassDrill, which currently is negotiating with shipyards for construction of the first unit. BassDrill intends to compete in the tender rig markets of the Far East and West Africa.
Some smaller assignments are also under way for third parties. These include structural steel and naval architect analysis for development projects in the Norwegian sector, the Far East, and the Gulf of Mexico, for customers such as Aker Kvaerner and Emtunga Offshore.
In cooperation with Bassoe Offshore, the new company also is working on several semi design concepts. One of these will be a drilling rig with deepwater capability, intended for benign areas with lesser motions. An outline specification and arrangement has been circulated to potential customers, and Bassoe Technology is working to involve shipyards and drilling contractors as the project moves forward into more detailed stages of design.
“Our expertise and background are obviously in floaters, but we do not intend to limit ourselves to semis,” says Dahlman. “Our knowledge of the marine environment and of drilling rigs is useful in many respects.”
“We’re also looking to develop some concepts of our own around the core of FPSOs with drilling and workover facilities,” says Rosenberg. “This could involve newbuild units, as we are now seeing the prices of second-hand tankers going up.” A joint industry project is being put together to take this concept forward to a market-ready product.
Jackup technology is also part of Bassoe Technology’s remit, allowing it to serve the group companies specializing in jackup rigs.
Bassoe Technology directors have traveled extensively overseas, meeting contacts and potential customers in countries including China, Norway, Russia, the UK, US, and Vietnam. “It’s been a good time to start a company like this,” says Dahlman. “The response from the market has been fantastic, which is not so strange given the lack of resources in the market.”
The company is also taking on work for non-oil and gas customers, one example being an engineering contract for an offshore wind turbine installation.
For more information contact Acke Dahlman, Bassoe Technology. Tel +46 733 714 360,[email protected], www.basstech.se
