Subsea Masters, a subsidiary of UK-based GEV Group, has agreed a joint venture with a Las Palmas shipyard in the Canary Islands to provide rig maintenance and repair for the West African offshore drilling market.
The agreement, signed with Zamakona Shipyard, is set to give the UK group a base from which to work on drillships and semi-submersibles currently operating off West Africa, benefiting Subsea Masters’ current customers as well as other international drilling contractors working in the region.
“This is an exciting opportunity for GEV Group,” comments managing director David Fletcher .
“Zamakona Shipyard is already working on projects for drilling contractors with rigs moored in the region, such as Transocean. It is, therefore, a logical step for us to partner with such a long established and forward thinking organisation in Las Palmas and provides customers with an alternative to West African service locations.”
Subsea Masters will offer well control equipment maintenance and servicing, including subsea riser management and complimentary services such as tubular and rig inspections.
“We have been fine-tuning the agreement for the past 12 months to ensure we have the infrastructure and equipment in place to deliver a world class service to our clients and Las Palmas is the perfect service location, being part of the EU yet situated just off the coast of West Africa,” added Harry Waters , Subsea Masters Operations Director, based in Las Palmas.