Mermaid Maritime unit sets up offshore decommissioning unit

A SUBSIDIARY of offshore services provider Mermaid Maritime has set up a new business unit focused on offshore platform installation and decommissioning, to target demand from major oil operators in Thailand. 

The  offshore transportation, installation and decommissioning services business unit, parked under the subsidiary, Mermaid Subsea Services (Thailand), will comprise Thai personnel with at least a decade's work experience in oil-and-gas operations and offshore facilities construction in the Gulf of Thailand. 

Chalermchai Mahagitsiri, chief executive at mainboard-listed Mermaid Maritime, said that the demand for decommissioning work is expected to rise in 2021 and continue doing so over the next 10 to 20 years. The Gulf of Thailand has over 400 offshore platforms; a quarter are estimated to be approved by the Thai government for decommissioning over the next 10 years, he added. 

Mr Mahagitsiri also said that the new unit will make Mermaid Maritime the first Thai-owned and Thai-operated services company in the offshore transportation, installation and decommissioning sector with the capability to deliver services of "an international standard using qualified local content for the Thailand market". 

Mermaid Subsea Services (Thailand) has been cleared to bid for a project where a "major oil and gas operator in Thailand" is looking to decommission 49 platforms from  this year till 2023. 

Separately, Mermaid Maritime said that it continues to manage its costs and "right-size" operations in the current climate, where it has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and unfavourable crude oil price movements. 

Responding to queries from the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), the group said that a "phased assessment and implementation plan" remains in progress, as the group seeks to improve cost efficiencies in its supply chain and "rationalise" personnel requirements to meet current business operations.

Mermaid Maritime's board has also directed management to perform a strategic review to reformulate its strategies, taking into account the new challenges in the market.