Sparrows offshore – a decade in Abu Dhabi

In 2009, Sparrows Offshore Services Limited will celebrate 10 successful years of operation in Abu Dhabi. This anniversary marks a decade of strong growth in the Middle East for Sparrows Offshore, from a single contract to a multi-million dollar business spanning the region from Azerbaijan in the North, through the Gulf to Tunisia in the West. When the oil and gas industry needs support for offshore and onshore cranes and lifting equipment, Sparrows Offshore is the first name on most Operating Companies’ lists. And Sparrows Offshore intends to build on that solid foundation during the next ten years, enhancing the range and scope of crane and lifting services offered in the Middle East, as Abu Dhabi continues its growth.

Sparrows Offshore was formed in 1973 and has been providing specialist management, maintenance, inspection, training and operating services to the offshore oil and gas sector ever since. With headquarters in Aberdeen, UK Sparrows Offshore now spans the globe – wherever there is a vessel or a platform drilling for or producing petrochemicals, the chances are that Sparrows Offshore has cast an eye over the installation’s cranes at some time. Now a founding member of the Energy Cranes International group of companies, Sparrows Offshore is able to tap into the wealth of technical support behind such crane brands as American Aero, Titan Industries, Houston Systems, Weatherford and Bucyrus Erie. Further acquisitions by the group have seen the addition of a specialist provider of hydraulic services, Aberdeen Hydraulics, and a subsea mechanical handling business, Baricon Systems.

The Growth Story

For over 20 of its 35 trading years, Sparrows Offshore has provided crane services in the Middle East, but it was only following a management buy-out of Sparrows Offshore in 1999 that growth ambitions, particularly in the Middle East, were realised. By 2003, Sparrows Offshore had doubled in size, and over the next five years would double again. Key to this growth has been the strength of operations in the Middle East, centred on Abu Dhabi. Working closely with long-term regional partner Abu Dhabi Oilfield Services (ADOS) Sparrows Offshore has a well-established office, workshop and warehouse facility in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi supporting over 80 specialist personnel dedicated to crane and lifting equipment service provision. The importance of Abu Dhabi to Sparrows Offshore is such that Richard Wilson, Vice President (Asia Pacific and Middle East), lives in the city and works from the Mussafah facility.

Over the decade since establishment of the Abu Dhabi facility, Sparrows Offshore has built a workforce that now comprises Business Area Managers, Project and Design Engineers, Maintenance Supervisors, Mechanics, Electricians, Hydraulic Technicians, Riggers and Crane Operators. From one central hub, Sparrows Offshore is able to meet the crane maintenance, operation or engineering needs of clients, whether under long-term outsourced management contracts, Master Service Agreements or one-off orders. When needed, the Sparrows Offshore Abu Dhabi staff are able to call on support from head office in the UK for specialist Design Services (2 and 3-D modelling, stress analysis, Finite Element Analysis, Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis) and additional Project Engineering and implementation crews. With over 2,000 members of the Energy Cranes group to deploy, clients can be assured that, when crane and lifting focus is required, Sparrows Offshore can deliver.

Safety Matters!

Safety among the Abu Dhabi Sparrows Offshore workforce is a matter of personal responsibility, as it is for the whole company. VP Richard Wilson is rightly proud of the exemplary safety record of his employees. During ten years of providing personnel to one of the harshest work environments in the world, Sparrows Offshore has run up almost two million (2M) work exposure hours without a single fatality, without a Lost Time Incident and with only two minor Restricted Work Cases. Trained, qualified, skilled personnel, working under effective health, safety, environment and quality management systems, led by example from senior management down ensures that safe operations takes top priority. And safe operations add considerable value to any hydrocarbons activity.

Customers’ Vote of Confidence

2009 is the tenth anniversary of Sparrows Offshore in Abu Dhabi and it is also the tenth year of continuous service provision to Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA OPCO). Sparrows Offshore provide a comprehensive managed crane service to ADMA OPCO that covers deployment of experienced, trained and qualified crane maintenance and operation personnel to the Umm Shaif and Zakum Super Complexes and to the Al-Hyleh Barge. Sparrows Offshore is not a crane manufacturer (that is left to sister company Energy Cranes LLC in Houston, USA) but is a crane specialist, ready to maintain and operate any make and model of crane - the Liebherrs, Favcos and Unit Mariners found on the ADMA OPCO installations are typical of those deployed in the region. Similar makes of crane, plus a few Weatherford models, make up the fleet operated by Sparrows Offshore’s second key client in the UAE, Dubai Petroleum Establishment (DPE, formerly DPC). Engineering and crane maintenance personnel have been provided to DPE on the Fateh Complex and associated satellite platforms by Sparrows Offshore since 2001. With the addition of clients such as Arabian Drilling, Total E&P, Transocean Offshore and Pride International, for whom maintenance and inspection services are provided, Sparrows Offshore maintains over 110 offshore cranes in the Middle East and provides Crane Operators for over 30 machines.

Expanding the Service Range

From crane maintenance and operation…
But Sparrows Offshore has not been content to rest solely on providing established services through long-term working relationships with existing clients. A continual seeking out of new opportunities, new services and ways in which to enhance the services provided lies at the heart of the development of the company in the region. As VP Richard Wilson has stated; ‘Sparrows Offshore is committed to building on what we do best – providing cost-effective crane maintenance and operation services and lifting engineering solutions to the oil and gas industry safely and with quality assured.’ To this end, Sparrows Offshore has recently expanded its portfolio of services, finalising a Service Centre Agreement for maintaining Braden winches in its Mussafah workshop. As Braden winches are one of the most common types used on cranes in the Gulf, Sparrows Offshore can now offer a more complete service, with onshore backup to ensure swift turnaround of key components and assemblies.

to crane condition evaluation…
Sparrows Offshore has also embraced new technologies in their desire to provide superior service to clients. Inspection of offshore cranes is an essential part of the process of ensuring equipment integrity and safety and Sparrows Offshore has been providing specialist Crane Maintenance Supervisors to carry out annual and other crane inspections on cranes mounted on both fixed and floating installations in the Gulf for many years. Detailed Crane Condition Evaluation reports are now loaded onto a client-accessible web site, providing an effective tool for planning corrective maintenance and demonstrating regulatory compliance. Maintenance Engineers based in Abu Dhabi can view and discuss the same report with colleagues on the installation, in another country or with Engineers from Sparrows Offshore: effective communication allows cost-effective planning and maintenance, maximising crane reliability and ensuring safe operation.

crane rental…
In seeking to expand their service range, Sparrows Offshore has identified a requirement in the Gulf market for temporary cranes. Broken down into sub-assemblies that can be lifted onto the installation using existing crane capacity – base, pedestal adaptor, machinery house, boom and a-frame – these rental cranes are erected in a matter of days, ready to provide enhanced capacity when required for drilling campaigns, well operations or major maintenance. If required, Sparrows Offshore has the trained, qualified Operators available to accompany the rental crane and maintenance technicians to ensure required availability is met.

spare parts…
But it is not just the major activities, such as crane replacement or overhaul that Sparrows Offshore is able to provide and support from their Abu Dhabi facility. The business model used to build Sparrows Offshore is a holistic one, recognising the whole of the process involved in meeting the particular requirements of the industry and clients. Key to this process is the ready availability of spare parts. Over the past 35 years Sparrows Offshore has established an extensive network of key suppliers and, in addition to holding a significant stock of critical spares for many crane makes, is able to call upon long-term trading relationships to manage the procurement and delivery of spares. The Gulf, like many other oil and gas regions around the world, is reaching maturity and many of the cranes servicing offshore installations have been in service for two, and even three decades. As such, obsolescence is a continual threat to continued operation of machines. Sparrows Offshore has the experience and design engineering capacity, either locally in Abu Dhabi or through their Aberdeen head office to re-engineer parts and assemblies, ensuring that maintenance and operation of cranes can continue into the future.

and crane replacement
A mature market also presents opportunities for the complete replacement of cranes that have reached the end of their working life. Sparrows Offshore is uniquely placed in being able to offer clients both new and reconditioned cranes. New purpose-built offshore pedestal cranes are designed and manufactured by Energy Cranes LLC in Houston, who offer a wide range of capacity from a 10 tonne SWL box boom model all the way up to a 280 tonne SWL lattice boom crane. Reconditioned cranes are bought by Sparrows Offshore, taken to the Mussafah workshops for complete stripdown and refurbishment before being rebuilt, painted and made ready for installation and another decade or two’s active service. Sparrows Offshore has the Engineering, the workshops and the installation and testing personnel and equipment that allows a turnkey approach to be adopted – from inception, through design and procurement to fitting, commissioning and testing.

Looking Forward in Abu Dhabi

Sparrows Offshore Services has enjoyed unrivalled success in Abu Dhabi over the past ten years, being an active part of the growth and development of the oil and gas industry in the Emirate and the region as a whole. Having developed sound business relationships in the Middle East and a reputation for the safe delivery of quality services, Sparrows Offshore looks forward to continued growth through expansion of capability and service range, working closely with clients to meet their business and operational needs. The next decade is an opportunity for Sparrows Offshore to soar to new heights from their Abu Dhabi centre of crane excellence.