accommodation modules

Specialist Services acquires rental assets of HB Rentals outside the Americas

by

Further to the continuous development and expansion of Specialist Services Group in Europe, Middle East and Asia, this month we have completed the acquisition of rental assets of HB Rentals outside the Americas for an undisclosed sum.

HB Rentals have serviced their clients with this fleet of offshore accommodation modules and Zone rated office modules from their two locations in Aberdeen in the UK and Abu Dhabi in the UAE. “That geographic footprint, as well as their high quality assets, are very similar to our own rental fleet, but we believe in the value add of acquiring a sizable quantity of 8 man offshore ABS certified accommodation modules. These units significantly increase our capacity to offer larger temporary living quarter solutions in Europe, Middle East and Asia,” said Ian Rogers, Chief Executive Officer at Specialist Services Group.

Along with the rental assets comes a series of new and existing customers, who have been renting these modular buildings from HB Rentals. These assets, contracts and customers are now all part of the Specialist Services Group business since Monday, 12th October 2020.

Specialist Services founding Director, Philip Bond, concluded: “I am pleased that we have bought these assets from HB Rentals. This will strengthen our rental business and having done it in the current market conditions says a lot about Specialist Services Group and our team.”

Safe and Comfortable Living and Working Solutions for Offshore Drilling Rigs

by

Life on offshore drilling rigs has many challenges. On jack-ups, semisubmersibles, and drillships, your personnel works hard on a very restricted space and far away from home and their loved ones. But thanks to today’s technology, safety measures and modern solutions, you can create a more comfortable and safe living and working environment for your people. And we are here to help.

Safe and Comfortable Living Spaces

Who says comfort and luxury cannot be found offshore? Take a look at our FLEX series of linkable Accommodation Modules that incorporate luxury with all the stringent safety requirements offshore. Our FLEX series features the latest digital, communication and entertainment technology as a standard. Each bed includes an individual LCD TV with CAT 6, HDMI, USB and audio connectivity. USB ports are also available for mobile phone charging, as well as network sockets with Wi-Fi option for each room.

We know that safety offshore cannot be compromised, especially on offshore drilling rigs. Taking safety very seriously, all our modules are built to the latest marine requirements using IMO Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) as the primary guideline, but also using other guidelines, such as ABS and Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) or individual Flag statutes, dependent upon specific project requirements. In addition, all our offshore modules are thoroughly cleaned and sanitized prior to every mobilization, which is especially important during this COVID-19 period.

We know what we are doing. With over 38 years of experience in the industry and with one of the world’s largest A60 Modular Hire fleets, Specialist Services is ideally placed to advise you on a number of solutions to fit your specific offshore accommodation requirements. When your operations face new or unforeseen challenges, we are here to support you with convenient solutions for your temporary requirements.

From Single Units to Complete TLQ Solutions

In one of the world’s most tightly regulated industries operating in the harshest environmental conditions, you need safe and reliable accommodation solutions that will protect your personnel. All our units are flexible, linkable, upgradable and comfortable, and can therefore suit your exact project requirements. With easy ‘plug & play’ hook-up, our Accommodation, Utility and Office Modules can be hired as single units or as a complete complex.

1 to 12 Man Accommodation Modules

All of our certified offshore Accommodation Modules are designed to provide longevity and low maintenance service in the most demanding locations, whilst meeting the necessary safety requirements for offshore use. All our Accommodation Modules are A60, ABS, DNV 2.7-1 and CSC Certified Safe Area and come as standard size of ISO 20ft and 33ft. However, we pride ourselves in our flexibility to provide other size solutions where required.

Our FLEX 33 Accommodation Modules offer you a flexible bed space from 1 to 12 man. Each unit consists of a central corridor and two staterooms, accommodating 1 to 6 persons. Each stateroom provides distinctive floorplan flexibility including bunks, lockers and desk removal or addition to meet your project specific requirements for maximised space efficiency.

Designed to offer a flexible lay down solution with minimal footprint, with integrated corridors, FLEX 33 can be hired as single units or as a complete complex with the central corridor easily linking the units. In line with ABS and other international certification and safety requirements, the modules can be stacked up to 4 levels on floating installations and on a fixed platform. Compliant with the stringent ABS code, FLEX 33 has been engineered and built to provide comfort, safety and reliability, meeting the highest global specifications and standards for offshore applications.

Complemented by Utility Modules

For complete TLQ solutions, we complement our Accommodation Modules with certified offshore temporary Utility Modules. These come as standard size of ISO 20ft, but with our flexibility, we can provide also other size solutions where required. In addition, internal fit outs can be designed to meet your project specific requirements. Our A60 offshore Utility Modules range includes: Kitchen and Dining Modules, Freezer and Chiller Modules, Laundry and Ablution Modules, as well as Recreation and Fitness Modules.

Working Offshore in Our Office Modules

To fully support your offshore operations, we also provide a range of A60 offshore Office Modules, from 10ft to 33ft, as well as NORSOK units. Engineered and manufactured in house to the highest industry standards, all our Office Modules are designed to optimise workspace efficiency, meet environment and acoustic requirements, and house your specialist equipment and resources in a safe and comfortable environment. All units can be outfitted and modified to perform any number of functions to suit your specific project requirements.

Modular Walkway and Stairs System

Within TLQ Solutions, a safe and easy access to the various units is also very important. All Accommodation, Utility and Office Modules can be stacked through our walkway systems. With limited space available offshore and easy transportation in mind, we have developed a modular walkway and stairs system that can be transported in a 20ft container. Each piece can fit together to form different layouts, as per your requirements. This system compliments our Modular Hire packages as a complete solution for the needs of any TLQ project.

Full Turnkey Solution for Your TLQ Projects

For modular TLQ projects we also provide supply and installation at your site as a turnkey solution. Our teams have decades of experience and technical know-how in performing installation services in coordination with your personnel and other contractors on site. All of our certified offshore accommodation modules and facility support modules are designed to provide longevity and low maintenance service.

Contact us for more information. We will be happy to answer your questions and help you with your upcoming requirements.

Specialist Services Group Celebrating 38 Years

by

This year, Specialist Services Group is celebrating 38 years of operations as a global supplier of oilfield equipment, modular buildings and packaging solutions for people and equipment in the oil and gas, utility, petrochemical, power, renewables, and defence industries.

Throughout almost four decades, the Group have developed and refined an international capability in design, engineering, manufacture, installation, and support across our broad range of products and services. At the same time, we have also expanded geographically, with the aim of supporting our clients worldwide through our facilities in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North America.

A Brief Overview of Our Milestones

Founded in 1982 as ASCO Specialist Services, in 1985, Specialist Services became a sole proprietorship company owned by Philip Bond. During the first decade of its operations, the company provided quality products and solutions for some of the key players in the Oil & Gas industry, such as TOTAL ABK, Bundoq, Saudi Aramco, and Larsen and Toubro, among others.

Our Facilities

During the first 20 years, our facilities expanded first in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, followed by 15 years of global expansion first into South East Asia and Australia markets with Specialist Services Holdings Pte Ltd established in Singapore in 2010, and in Europe through the acquisition of Labtech Services Limited in Aberdeen, UK, in 2011. This was followed by the setup of a new company in India, Specialist Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd., and two Joint Venture Companies with RedGuard from the USA, including RedGuard Specialist Services based in UAE (2016) and Specialist Services RedGuard based in the USA (2017).

Our Product Range

Known in the industry as a provider of reliable and internationally compliant products, we started with Buildings, fire rated products and EPC projects. Over the last two decades, we then expanded our solutions range by adding Modular Hire, Drilling, Testing, Production and Process Packages (DTPP), as well as turn-key Facilities Management Solutions.

Throughout the years, we have been continuously innovating our products and services, to provide the best solutions for our clients. Within our DTPP solutions, we lead the market designing and delivering onshore and offshore modular well test packages, we have produced the world’s first scalable and flexible modular early production facilities, and also developed and delivered a stand-alone process heater with Sil 2 burner management system for Zone II hazardous area installation. Within our Buildings product range, we provide fully modular living quarters and stressed skin living quarters, and recently we also introduced and delivered modular shooting ranges, modular blast-rated multi-level plant control buildings, and stand-alone self-sufficient blast-rated and gas over-pressured refuge buildings. Within our Modular Hire division, we have also developed the world’s largest ABS compliant offshore accommodation fleet.

Our quality assurance processes and certification verify that our products and services meet the highest quality standards. Our latest certification includes Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance to ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 450001:2018.

Our Largest Projects

Throughout the years, within our Buildings division, we have worked on various large projects, such as 58 Man Living Quarters for ConocoPhillips, Bongkot Phase 4A Living Quarters Platform for PTTEP in Thailand, a 50 man Living Quarters Extension for Chevron in Thailand, Local Equipment Room and Local Control Room Buildings for Zakum Development Company (ZADCO) in UAE, a Control Building for Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) in Kuwait, Substation Modules for National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) and ADMA-OPCO in UAE, and the latest large project—70 Man 4-Level Living Quarter for Mubadala Petroleum in Malaysia, among others.

Some of Our Latest Achievements

In 2013, DNV GL awarded us the renewal of the DNV Manufacturing Survey Arrangement (or MSA), confirming once again Specialist Services’ high quality and reliable products manufacture, while in 2014, the Public Health and Safety Department of Dubai Municipality awarded Specialist Services as a role model organisation in the manufacturing sector for the management of occupational health and safety during the year 2012-2013. The same year, we launched the G4 Global, the first globally compliant office module, and received the Type Approval (TA) Certificate from ABS for 20ft A60 4 Men Portable Accommodation Modules. A year later, we launched FLEX 33 Accommodation Modules, compliant with the stringent ABS code.

In 2016, Zakher Marine International awarded us a rental contract for a 77-module, 150 man TLQ complex to accommodate ZADCO personnel offshore Abu Dhabi—one of the largest TLQ projects in the world. The same year, we also celebrated 6 million man-hours without Lost Time Injuries. Since 2017, we have been also achieving very high Customer Loyalty Score results, above 70%, and since 2019 over 80%, which reflect a high level of customer satisfaction with our solutions. This year, Abdul K. Molla, Welder at Specialist Services, won the first prize at SteelFab 2020 in UAE, proving the high level of professionalism of our employees.

This is just a short snapshot of some of our achievements, proving our quality and professionalism in all aspects of our business. While we are proud of what we have accomplished over almost four decades, we still have ambitious plans for the future.

48 Module 224 Man Accommodation Extension

by

Specialist Services announces the successful completion of the 48 module 224 man accommodation extension project for Sea Trucks Group within the agreed 16 weeks production period

In November 2013, Sea Trucks Group awarded Specialist Services the contract for a 48 module accommodation extension required on one of their DP3 offshore construction vessels deployed for accommodation support on the Arkutun-Dagi Project in Sakhalin, Russia.

Project: 48 module 224 man accommodation extension
Client: Sea Trucks Group
Project Completion: 5th March 2014

Project requirements

Sea Trucks Group required a temporary increase in capacity of the accommodation and associated facilities onboard of their offshore construction vessels to support the project in Sakhalin and has subcontracted the provision of the required 48 module 224 man accommodation extension to Specialist Services. With the project expected to commence in Q2 of 2014, an extremely tight production deadline of 16 weeks was agreed, with project completion by 5th March 2014. Considering the limited time available for the production and installation of the accommodation units, Sea Trucks Group has demonstrated a confidence in our capabilities to deliver this project on time. In fact Specialist Services ability to provide an overall solution for accommodation units on a sale and/or hire basis gave us a unique solution which assured the client that the installation was guaranteed to be completed on time.

Solution

The project was challenging from the very beginning with the production schedule reduced to 16 weeks and Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) with ABS Ship Rules to be complied with. In order to complete the project on time, engineering and fabrication had to be done in tandem and this could be achieved only through the close cooperation between client, contractor and surveyor. Our in depth knowledge and experience in building such projects allowed us to take on such risk.

 

Our team worked exceptionally hard throughout all stages of this project. 50 staff and an average of over 200 men in the yards worked daily on the project during the production period, while the Engineering Team prepared and issued over 400 drawings to the client, ABS and shop floor. In the end we completed the project and handed it over to Sea Trucks Group in line with the agreed completion date with the units dispatched within 2 days to the Jebel Ali Port for shipping.

        

Conclusion

All 48 units are fully compliant to ABS, SOLAS A60 and Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) requirement for Temporary Accommodation and have been completed in line with Sea Trucks Group requirements to be installed on the vessel in four levels. The accommodation extension includes 28 modules with 56 four man accommodation units, 6 modules with conference room and 10 four man office units, two recreation rooms, a galley and mess, as well as locker rooms, laundry units, common wet units, chiller and freezer units, dry stores and a linen store. The design was made to allow eased integration along with flexibility where these units are used. Design head of the structure will allow modules to be placed on Sea Trucks Group entire fleet of vessels and are not just project specific.

The installation of the accommodation extension on the vessel in Batam, Indonesia, has been completed end of May 2014.