Offshore helicopter transportation services provider CHC Helicopter is closing down its base in Bergen, Norway, after losing a contract with the Norwegian oil company Statoil.
Bergens Tidende, a Norwegian news provider focusing on Bergen area, reported that the company will close down its base in Bergen and, as a result, lay off 100 employees.
The helicopter provider lost the contract with Statoil to its rival helicopter operator, Bristow. To remind, Statoil awarded the contract for personnel transportation from Bergen and Florø to Bristow in February 2016 . The contract is set to start on May 1, 2017.
Offshore Energy Today reached out to CHC Helicopter in Norway seeking confirmation of these reports, however, we are yet to receive the company’s response.
In April 2016, CHC-operated Super Puma helicopter carrying workers from the Statoil-operated Gullfaks B platform crashed near Bergen killing everyone on board. After the accident, Statoil said it would not use the Super Puma helicopters ever again .
When it comes to CHC’s operations in Norway, the company was awarded a contract with Wintershall Norge in December. The contract is for the provision of helicopter services in support of the company’s drilling program at the Maria field in the Norwegian Sea.
However, at the beginning of 2017, CHC did not get a contract renewal from Apache in the North Sea. The contract with Apache, which still has eight months to run, accounts for less than a fifth of the company’s business.
Offshore Energy Today Staff