DOF Subsea is state of the art. Having combined highly trained and supported professionals with the latest technology and equipment, not to mention having a purpose built fleet of cutting edge vessels to hand, the company has guaranteed their future. Add to this a solid business model and it’s clear just how they have risen to become the go-to name in the subsea industry. We spoke with Executive Vice President, North America; Marco Sclocchi regarding some of the new endeavours DOF Subsea are involved in.

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“Originally, the company was a survey organisation and the goal of DOF Subsea was to expand the services into a fully integrated IMR and offshore services contractor

utilizing DOF Subsea’s fleet,” he explains, “This totally changed the company and in five years we grew from 43 employees to 214 and today we have three permanent locations within the Gulf of Mexico and an office in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.”

He goes on to emphasise the business goals that were set at the very beginning, “It was a simple but all-encompassing global vision to become a first class offshore services provider.”

To gain this mantle, the DOF Group has instigated a number of philosophies to safeguard the means by which the company grows. This includes a parameter on developing advantages.

“This is a competitive industry and so you have to protect your advantages,” Marco explains, “One big advantage for us is that we have everything in-house; we run our own vessels, ROV surveys and Project Management and Engineering. Fully integrated, custom made and self-contained, it puts us into the position where we only sub-contract with suppliers that we foresee a benefit with, growth wise.”

However, there are some occasions that call for flexibility and to gain advantages in new locations, DOF Subsea has learnt the value of adhering to the international laws and expectations of countries. Such is the case with the Jones Act in America.

The Jones Act, introduced by Senator Wesley Jones and also known as the The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, is a federal statute that provides for the promotion and maintenance of the American merchant marines and it basically, ensures that cargo and marine commerce transported by water between US ports is carried on US vessels.

DOF Subsea is a Norwegian business, so to ensure that they fell in line with the Jones Act they have invested into a long-

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Offering services to the oil and gas industry across the entire offshore life cycle, the formula for success has always been a simple but powerful one: delivering solutions to their customers. Marco, who was kind enough to find time in his busy schedule, spoke with me on the phone to explain that this has been the unifying vision for the business since the DOF Subsea division was established in 1994, after an acquisition of the main DOF Group.

We are honored to be part of DOF’s past and look forward to our future together.

Otto Candies, LLC

17271 Highway 90, Post Office Box 25Des Allemands, Louisiana 70030-0025

Phone: 504.469.7700 Fax: 504.469.7740info@ottocandies.com ottocandies.com

term charter with a pair of American companies, specifically Otto Candies and Harvey Gulf International. .

“By having an authorized Jones Act vessel, we are able to provide a full service to our clients through fabrication, testing, load out at dock and safe transportation and installation offshore,”

Marco illustrates that the company vision is one focussed less on an end goal and more on a day-to-day promise and that part of this is applying common sense solutions to complex subsea installation problems. This is why expertise and a well-invested-in staff contingent are so important.

“DOF Subsea provides innovative subsea engineering services focusing on Technology enhancement,” he explains, “Offering clients cost effective solutions underpinned by an accredited quality system.”

Their approach has been so successful that they routinely undertake naval architecture, structural engineering, mechanical design and operations and engineering across a broad range of applications.

We listen to our client needs and looking for innovative solution, often investing time and resources to develop an innovative product, that our client will appreciate and elevate our profile .

Ultimately, DOF Subsea develops solutions that optimise the

outcome for a project, making use of their worldwide experience in operations and the application of the latest in intervention tooling, Marco says, “Day by day, we aim to reduce project risk, while increasing the productivity,”

HANDS ON“Employees are so important,” Marco says, “The only way to

have a functional and reliable business is to have well trained, knowledgeable staff.”

The DOF academy was set up so that, following their philosophy of keeping things in-house, the influx of talent into the company would be as full and as worthy as possible. This also gives it an opportunity to train all members of DOF with regards to the rules and regulations of the industry. Herein it also has a competency programme for offshore resources and all staff are assessed yearly to ensure their compliance.

Marco explains that there is a strong demand in the industry for highly trained and experienced staff and that this provides yet another opportunity for the company itself to ensure that it is a business worth working for, “Loyalty is a two way street between staff and company,” he says.

As the company is growing very fast, there are many

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opportunities made for in-house promotion and every day brings new potential for further expansion and growth. Promoting and training from within is preferred, however with the pace at which they are growing, headhunting is occasionally utilised to ensure that speed does not dwindle.

“I don’t see a change in direction coming,” he says, “There is always lots of potential for growth inside the company.”

Continuous improvement is a principle, he says, “To continuously improve, you need to have a clear representation of the facts. We rely heavily on customer-feedback reports and have developed a strong reputation and an enviable reliance on values and culture. It may sound like a marketing pitch, but there is genuinely a feeling of teamwork here.”

WHAT TO EXPECT?It isn’t a great period at the moment. The market has created

many challenges for every company involved in it, but Marco believes that the downturn will prove to be beneficial as it will test the foundations of many businesses, forcing them to reassess what they are doing and how they are doing it. This will provide opportunities for growth and diversification.

What it has done to DOF Subsea is demonstrated the strength of their client relationships, the loyalty of their staff and the flexibility of their business model because despite the downturn, they are still pulling in the contracts.

“We have been successful with some key clients ,” he says, “and they have been extremely active in the Gulf of Mexico.”

These included new contracts in the Atlantic and North American region, which will include work in both the Norwegian and UK Sectors. According to a press release from DOF Subsea, the work scope includes, among others, the installation of flexible flow lines and umbilical’s on the Corrib field, operated by Shell Ireland Ltd.

The North America region has been awarded several contracts with the regions key client. The contract award will increase the utilisation of the vessels Harvey Deep Sea and Chloe Candies. Speaking about the NOK3 billion that these contracts have brought in this year, Mons Aase, CEO of DOF Subsea said, “I am very happy to have secured these contracts, all of them with clients we have worked with on previous projects”.

Marco wraps up summarily saying, “We’ve currently bet on a winning horse.”

Harvey Gulf International Marine, LLC(504) 348-2466, One Shell Square, 701 Poydras Street

Suite 3700, New Orleans, Louisiana 70139

Since August of 2013 Harvey Gulf Marine International has been honored to work with DOF Subsea in their deep sea ventures. Harvey Gulf provides DOF our Harvey Deep-Sea MPSV which represents a first of its kind for the Gulf of Mexico by enhancing Liquid Mud, Cement and Methanol cargo capacities, offering up to 70 POB, two work class ROVs, 15x18ft moon pool, 165mT crane, 100t stern roller, S92 Helideck and meeting the most environmentally stringent ABS notations such as Enviro+ and Green Passport. Harvey Gulf has created a new generation of Jones Act compliant multi-purpose construction vessels which qualifies it for all of DOFS many versatile tasks. We at Harvey Gulf look forward to a long lasting relationship with DOF built on safety, efficiency and trust.

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