In a move precipitated by the continued success and growth of its environmental services division, SFF Services Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, is transferring provision of these services to newly established company Marine Environmental Solutions (MES). MES is well placed to support the offshore industries, and aims to build upon the strong track record of SFF Services Limited.
environmental services are becoming more important
The growing market for offshore environmental services is largely driven by the continuing growth of the offshore energy industries. Global energy demand is increasing faster than ever and fossil fuels will still meet 70% of that growth, while worldwide offshore wind capacity is expected to double between 2018 and 2027. This growth combined with a rising awareness of environmental issues means that offshore industries must work harder than ever to manage their impact on the marine environment.
core services will include cetacean monitoring, and seabed clearance
The first of MES core services is cetacean monitoring and noise mitigation, including Marine Mammal Observer (MMO), Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM), and Acoustic Deterrent Device (ADD) personnel and equipment. It is well known that industrial noise can be harmful to marine mammals, and MES brings recognised capability, with experience in cetacean monitoring both at home (in the UK marine mammals are protected by law) and abroad, having pursued opportunities in the Falklands, Greenland, Australia and North America.
MES’s second core service is seabed debris clearance, developed primarily for the oil and gas sector to help the industry achieve its’ 35% cost reduction targets for decommissioning, and also meet the clear seabed requirements set by UK Government. This service, forecast to begin activities in the UKCS sector in April 2020, is already generating significant interest from oil and gas operators for final stage site remediation work. It is also attracting considerable interest from offshore renewables for cable route clearance works, and from marine salvage operators.
In addition to its core activities MES will provide a range of inshore and offshore marine survey services including grab sampling, seabed sampling, drop-down camera survey, multi-beam survey, and ROV survey. Environmental monitoring activities, and marine consultancy services complete the offering.
an opportunity for growth
Steven Alexander, Managing Director of MES, commented, “This is an exciting opportunity to develop a robust environmental service offering, and build on work that has been done over the past thirty plus years. SFFSL has been successful in developing its’ services in the UKCS Scottish sector, but these services are now of interest to a wider market, and there is an opportunity to export our capability further afield. This is what we hope to achieve with Marine Environmental Solutions.”
SFF Services Limited will continue to provide guard and support vessel services, fisheries liaison consultancy services, fisheries liaison (FLO) personnel, and trawl sweep clearance verification works in UKCS Scottish waters. It will continue to provide services where fisheries are impacted by energy industry activities, including oil and gas, offshore renewables, and subsea cable and pipeline installation works.
Find out more about Marine Environmental Solutions by visiting our website www.mar-env-sol.com or contacting our team by email info @ mar-env-sol.com