Vessel Services
For over 25 years SFF Services has provided fishing vessels, utilised as guard vessels, to protect client’s vulnerable assets and deter fishing activity in potentially hazardous areas. Guard vessels have been deployed during vulnerable periods of installation and decommissioning to a wide client base, including major oil and gas operators such as BP and Shell.
Fishing vessels can be utilised to provide support for seismic surveys, and other vessel activities requiring an escort presence, e.g. pipeline bundle operations. An experienced skipper and crew using local knowledge and professional expertise, can help to establish effective communications with fishing vessels in the working area and encourage the best possible co-operation for all parties.
The company has provided vessel services in relation to buoy movements and servicing, soil grab sampling, noise monitoring, marine traffic surveys, communications testing, and bird, fish and marine mammal monitoring. Local trawlers utilized as scout vessels recently operated in the environmentally sensitive Yell Sound area of Shetland, assisting in monitoring marine mammals during pipeline survey and rock dumping operations.
Fishing vessels have also undertaken boom deployment operations during oil spill exercises in some nearshore and highly sensitive areas. For certain projects guard vessels have also been fitted with chemical dispersants. Shore based expertise has also been provided by the company during such operations.
Fishing vessels have been engaged to conduct trawl sweeps and overtrawlability trials for a variety of different projects. Initially using a SFF Services produced chain mat, and then appropriate trawl gear, normal fishing activity is simulated in order to test if an area is safe to fish, with the objective of giving confidence to fishermen that the grounds can be reopened for fishing.
Trawl Sweeps have been conducted in decommissioned fields, abandoned wellhead sites, newly installed pipelines and other structures, and for debris clearance operations. Once completed, SFF Services issue a clearance or foul certificate and distribute the results to fishermen.
Recently overtrawlability trials have taken place after trenching and backfill of several new pipelines. Remedial work with the chain mat flattens the seabed and establishes gates along the pipeline, proved safe to trawl through. This is especially important in areas with a heavy clay seabed.
SFF Services Limited has at its disposal a range of vessels to undertake debris clearance (overtrawlability) trawl sweeps. Vessels are selected on client requirement and fishing area operational criteria.
SFF Services Limited can supply a range of vessels capable of undertaking oil spill response duties such as boom and dispersant deployment for oil containment/recovery, actual oil spill recovery, as well as monitoring and sampling related activities.
