SFF Services Limited was established some 25 years ago, by and on behalf of the fishermen members of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation for the purpose of providing ad hoc vessel services to offshore marine industries, particularly the Offshore Oil and Gas industry located within the Scottish sector of UK territorial waters.
From modest beginnings, and following a great deal of investment of time, resources, finances and effort by the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, the Company has grown, from small scale affair to one which now provides a professional vessel service throughout the Scottish sector of the UK territorial waters. Fishing vessels have been primarily procured by oil companies to guard vulnerable oil assets, such as pipelines under construction, wellheads that have not been afforded full protection to guarding fibre optic cables, subsea umbilicals, pre installed templates and such like. Vessels have also been provided for what is described as ‘chase vessels’, protecting long seismic cables being towed near surface by seismic vessels, as well as pipeline bundle tow operations.
Fishing vessels have also been engaged to undertake debris trawling operations – for example the company provided five fishing vessels to work with various oil related vessels to clear the seabed around Piper Alpha, following the disastrous explosion. Vessels have also been used to undertake environmental monitoring activities, to capture wellhead marker buoys which have set themselves adrift and to support oil spill exercises, such as the recent exercise Sula around the Shetland Islands. Underpinning these services the company has progressively worked to improve underlying safety standards and the company is FPAL approved, has implemented a Quality Management System and is presently working towards achieving ISO 9001:2008 certification. The company fully supportive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation active and enthusiastic contribution to the work of the Marine Safety Forum of which it has been in membership for some time.
The company also provides Fisheries Liaison Skippers to go aboard various oil vessels, particularly seismic boats, in order to assist the smooth interface between the two industries of various operations. In recent years, the company has developed a strong reputation for providing highly qualified and experienced Marine Mammal Observers (MMOs) to undertake cetacean monitoring duties in relation to pertinent offshore activities being undertaken in sensitive environmental localities. Additionally, the company has developed a highly successful Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) equipment package fully complemented by the abilities of trained, experienced PAM operators. The company has developed a long and successful track record in these personnel arenas and success has naturally fed upon itself with the company increasingly being called upon to provide such services in the Norwegian and Danish sectors of the North Sea, as well as many areas of the Mediterranean.
The company has also developed an experienced and qualified pool of Fisheries Observers gathering scientific data from fishing trips which is then analysed and used to inform fisheries management.
The company is member of a number of pertinent trade protection bodies, including the International Association of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC) and, interestingly, and more recently, Oil Spill UK (OGUK).
The SFF Services model has been adopted by fishermen in Canada, particularly Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, as well as parts of the Mexican Gulf.
Although, like any company which is developed over time, SFF Services has experienced its share of disappointments, it clearly has a long successful track record and is well respected by many marine industries, including, in particular, the UK offshore oil and gas industry and increasingly over time the offshore renewables industry.
The company’s long and successful track record is underpinned by a few key statistics. Since 1996, when the company formally began maintaining vessel and personnel statistics an astounding 450 different fishing vessels from all around Scotland have been provided to the oil and gas, cables and renewables industries thereby accounting for an incredible 55,000 vessel days on task involving 3,800 vessel mobilisations. In addition, some 40,000 personnel days have been provided in the form of Fishing Liaison Skippers, MMOs, PAM operators, etc, mostly on board seismic vessels - an all-round astounding achievement.
Michael Sutherland, Director of Operations and Business Development, has been a constant throughout the past 25 years, driving the establishment and expansion of the business and managing a small but highly experienced team. Steven Alexander, Operations Manager, has been with the company for 15 years, shouldering the heavy load of delivering vessels and manpower to SFF Services customers. Vessel safety auditing, mobilisation, rotation, reporting and close-out are all seamlessly managed in an ever-changing scenario. He has led the way in substantial safety improvements over the years, with increasingly demanding HSEQ requirements met, raising the standard for the whole Scottish fishing industry.
The company’s success could not have been achieved without the efforts of the company’s personnel and crews at sea and the dedication of the shore-based team managing the company’s activities.
