Sparrows Group wins Statoil crane contract

Global crane engineering company Sparrows Group has secured an initial five-year contract to deliver cranes and maintenance services at Statoil’s Mariner development on the UK Continental Shelf.

The firm will supply Statoil’s Mariner development – said by the company to be one of the North Sea’s largest and most prestigious new developments in over a decade - with crane operator personnel to support drilling, operations, maintenance and logistics. It will also deliver maintenance and engineering services to ensure the availability and reliability of the Mariner A platform’s two pedestal cranes.

Options to extend the contract mean it could potentially run for a total of nine years.

Stewart Mitchell, chief executive officer at Sparrows Group, said, “The platform will be subject to high levels of lifting activity with both the north and south cranes working to support the drilling operations, so our experienced operators and maintenance personnel will be integral to ensuring optimal operational performance.”

Statoil has already engaged Sparrows Group’s engineering team for support with the integration of the cranes and mechanical handling equipment during the platform’s construction phase which is ongoing in South Korea.

Mariner A will have A-frame, lattice boom cranes mounted on fixed pedestals. The two crane capacities are 50 tonnes at a 40 metre radius and 17 tonnes at maximum radius of 60 m.

Full provision of training and competency services is included in the contract, along with equipment modification, upgrade and replacement components, and repair and maintenance of equipment onshore.

The Mariner Field is approximately 150 kilometres east of the Shetland Islands and consists of two shallow reservoir sections. The Maureen Formation sits at 1,492 m with the Heimdal reservoir at 1,227 m.

Due to begin operation in 2018, it is expected that the field will contribute more than 250 mmbbls (million barrels) reserves with average plateau production of around 55,000 barrels per day. Mariner is expected to have a 30-year field life.