Early September saw another period of high activity and a swift turnaround for SVS Guardsman. Following an extremely successful project off Ghana, the vessel underwent a short period of maintenance and reconfiguration in Lome, Togo, before sailing to join her next charter in support of a major seismic acquisition project off Namibia.

The quick turnaround and timely deployment, coming so soon after a similar short-notice task, required significant skills, experience and co-operation with local agencies. It demonstrated why Admiral Offshore has been so successful and is the market leader in the provision of modern, well maintained vessels in support of the Oil and Gas community in West Africa.

On this occasion, not only did the team have to contend with all of the normal logistic, operational and administrative challenges, but also with two serious and unrelated issues affecting the onsigning crew, including the loss of our Master on compassionate leave less than 24 hours before sailing, whilst another crew member was taken seriously ill before joining.

Determined not to let down the client or delay the start of the project, the Admiral Offshore management team worked quickly to identify, screen and mobilise replacement crew members within 24 hours – a significant achievement given the very specific qualifications and experience required, and the additional administrative and immigration formalities to be met.

It is testament to the Admiral Offshore ethos and experience, both of our management team and our crews, that we were able to prepare and mobilise the vessel in good time for the start of the charter, including the 2,000 NM delivery voyage and successful completion of the various surveys and audits required by our charterer and by their end client, an oil major.