Double standards on offshore lifting equipment

As responsible for Modex AsiaPac operations I frequently visit major offshore supply bases and oilfield service workshops in the region. Many of these bases and workshops are operated by international companies with high safety requirements. When you enter the office reception, you are welcomed by nice, big health and safety signboards which emphasise the importance of safe operations. As a supplier, we have agreed to comply with the highest international industry standards for offshore lifting equipment, DNV 2.7-1.

However, when I pass through the reception and visit the workshops and yards, I am taken aback by the amount of old, rusty and non-standard lifting equipment used in daily offshore operations by the same international companies in Asia. In our industry it is estimated that more than half of the offshore lifting equipment in Asia is non-DNV certified, if certified at all.

Some may argue that DNV-certified equipment is too expensive compared to local manufactured non-certified equipment, but at what risk? As production cost of DNV certified equipment has been dramatically reduced by moving production to China, I think the cost saving argument is no longer valid.

We are in the middle of a major downturn in the oil industry and it is a great opportunity to clean out outdated lifting equipment and replace it with new cost efficient DNV 2.7-1 certified equipment that we manufacture in-house in China. Modex supplies new equipment for sales, rental or leasing.

Per Ingar Amlie – Regional Director, Asia Pacific