After an initial joint venture signed in 2006 in Singapore with Farid Khan, BOURBON strengthened its foothold in the region in 2009 with the arrival of a second partner, in Indonesia, Peter Pramana. Today, Bourbon Offshore Asia, based in Singapore, covers the whole of South East Asia: Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Burma, Vietnam, Indonesia and Australia. In 10 years, the Asian set up has reached a market share of approximately 25%, with 16 customers and almost 1,200 employees, 82% of them being local highly-trained employees.

Trust and transparency: key ingredients of strong partnerships

The crisis affecting the offshore industry hit hard in South East Asia. BOURBON, along with other major players of this area, was confronted with a strong decrease in activity. Thanks to its partnerships policy, based on sharing know-how, asset ownership and key positions, BOURBON's vessel utilization rate –which fell to 40%– remains higher than its competitors : "Strong proximity to our customers guarantees a better understanding of their expectations and of local market requirements, says Farid Khan, Chairman of Bourbon Offshore Asia. We have found the right balance between globalization and local flexibility thanks to the trusting and transparent relationships built with BOURBON."

Beyond these benefits, building local partnerships has become a prerequisite to ensure sustainable development in the region, as emphasized by Peter Pramana, BOURBON's business partner in Indonesia: "Local content is one of our main challenges with stricter local regulations in Indonesia. For example, the ownership of the vessels has to be transferred to the country and ship management must be conducted locally. In this context, being part of a joint-venture has considerably helped BOURBON to develop its business in the region. "BOURBON’s partnership-based strategy in South East Asia is proving to be a winning strategy: BOURBON obtains access to sales opportunities in the region and to a better understanding of the local needs, whilst its partners benefit from a modern fleet and the best of technology and expertise!

"Working for a large group such as BOURBON provides us with many opportunities locally but also on a global scale. Since I joined BOURBON six years ago, I have had the chance to hold various onshore and offshore positions in Malaysia and Thailand. I also appreciate the cultural diversity and the access to experienced colleagues who guide me to deliver operational excellence to my clients." Ramiah Ramnagendran, Operations Manager, Bahtera Sri Kandi Marine Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur

Client testimony

Alain Guillou OBC Project Manager at Seabed Geosolutions in Vietnam

Could you present your company and describe your collaboration with BOURBON?

Seabed Geosolutions delivers surveys and solutions to the global oil and gas industry. I started working with BOURBON in 2010 in Saudi Arabia and then in Malaysia and Indonesia. We now rent BOURBON’s vessels and their crews from Singapore to cover the entire South East Asian region.

In your opinion, what are BOURBON’s key strengths?

BOURBON provides us with access to a fleet of vessels which are well adapted to our needs, competitively priced and meet international standards of safety and hygiene. Beyond this, we appreciate BOURBON’s long-term approach concerning their marine crew with a focus on continuity rather than on short-term contract. Therefore, the vessels are in good condition, the staff are technically capable in case of a failure and the crew is loyal. Crew loyalty combined with BOURBON’s local presence enables us to hire the same captain for missions in different regions which has a win/win effect.

Boasting exceptional bollard pull of 307 t and 193 t in diesel-electric mode, unrivalled winch and storage capacities and an A1 ice classification hull, the Bourbon Arctic is one of the most powerful and versatile vessel ever built.

Bourbon Offshore Norway took delivery of the vessel on February 25^th 2016. Designed to operate in remote areas, she is equipped for advanced anchor handling and towing operations. Her innovative specifications were carefully drawn up to meet customers’ needs for deep offshore operations. Lundin Norway AS required exactly such a vessel in March for an operation to unmoor one of their North Sea rigs, the "Island Innovator" and Bourbon Arctic embarked on her maiden mission.

Designed to operate in remote areas, the vessel is equipped for advanced anchor handling and towing operations.

After becoming familiarized with the equipment, the crew commenced on the first mission, which entailed raising and recovering six anchors and mooring lines. Thanks to excellent cooperation between the BOURBON and Lundin Norway AS teams, the operation was successfully completed in seven days.

The Bourbon Arctic is looking forward to a busy life in some of the northern hemisphere’s most remote waters. She can operate in 80 cm of ice, and her powerful winches are ideal for work at deep water and for handling complex mooring systems (ROV capabilities have been added in June). As a Clean Design vessel, she complies with the most stringent standards on air emissions and discharges into the sea. Operating generally with a crew of around 18 including trainees, she has accommodation for 60 people, so she can also serve as a floatel. Should the vessel ever take part in a rescue operation, she can take up to 300 people on board.

Joint interview

Bjørn Remøy, Managing Director of Bourbon Offshore Norway, and Sigmund Hertzberg, Senior Marine Supervisor of Lundin Norway AS, discuss the Bourbon Arctic’s first mission.

Why did Lundin Norway AS choose the Bourbon Arctic for this mission?

Sigmund Hertzberg (S.H.): When we heard about the Bourbon Arctic and her capabilities at Lundin Norway AS, we were eager to try her out. For the unmooring of one of our rigs, the "Island Innovator", we knew we would need high capacity for chain, fiber rope and deck space.

Bjørn Remøy (B.R.): We started marketing the vessel about two years ago, when construction started. We had defined its specification in line with the needs of operators in remote northern seas, so we hoped to interest customers quite rapidly in this outstanding and versatile vessel, with her dual propulsion system allowing her to adapt power needs to the type of operation with diesel-electric mode, resulting in reduced fuel consumption compared to conventional AHTS.

How did the Bourbon Arctic perform on her first rig move?

B.R.: The operation involved releasing and recovering six anchors. The officers on the bridge and the ABs on the deck all adapted quickly to using much more powerful equipment than they had previously used.

S.H.: The operation required the full range of winches, chain lockers and deck space. All the equipment functioned very efficiently. And after spending a week on-board the vessel, supervising the operation from the customer’s perspective, I can report she’s a very cost- effective vessel with regards to fuel consumption.

Will Lundin Norway AS use the Bourbon Arctic again?

S.H.: The features offered by the vessel correspond very well to our needs. That is the reason why we have just signed a new chartering contract of 160 days. The operations will take place in north of Bergen, and then on the Alta III field.

B.R.: We are very satisfied to have met the expectations of our client Lundin Norway. This new midterm contract shows that the Bourbon Arctic is fully adapted to a new kind of services, not only in spot market.

Can you explain your standardization approach?

Terry Stone (T.S.) - Satair Group Middle East: In the airline industry, asset downtime is very expensive. Every minute counts. Some parts of an airplane, such as doors, wings, flats and engines, can be standardized. This is not the case for the interior of the plane which is specifically customized by each customer. As a subsidiary of AIRBUS, we are one of the world's leading providers of aftermarket solutions for the civil aerospace industry. We have inventories hubs with stocks of parts which can be quickly dispatched as needed in every region where our customers  operate: Dubai, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Washington, Atlanta, Miami, Singapore and Beijing.

Fabien Monleau (F.M.) - BOURBON: The marine industry is not as advanced as the air sector regarding spare parts availability. However, we are duplicating their business model as we have realized that fleet downtime costs are huge compared to repair costs. We have stocks of spare parts in every region where we operate, so that we can reduce the maintenance period. It is especially critical in the coast of West Africa, where we operate 75 % of the time, as it is very difficult procure spare parts locally.

T.S. - Satair: At Satair Group, we have a shipment spare part availability requirement of four hours or less. In some cases, spare parts can eve be hand carried by someone from the warehouse to the aircraft's location.

F.M. - BOURBON: Like Satair Group, our objective is to optimize the availability of spare parts so that we can reduce the maintenance time of our vessels. We are trying to achieve it in all our regions, especially in West Africa. This is also more difficult as we have up to 50 different designs in our fleet. However, thanks to standardization, we now have 10 standardized designs representing 80 % of the fleet. These parts are available in our inventories and can be supplied very quickly. However, our fleet is not fully standardized as vessels are sometimes tailor-made for some customers.

T.S. - Satair: It is also important to highlight the following difference between our two business models. In the aerospace industry, the aircraft manufacturer supports the aftermarket sales while this is not the case in the marine industry. We, at Satair Group, establish long term relationships with our customer and do not walk away for the responsibility of aftermarket support.

F.M. - BOURBON: Things are indeed different in the marine industry as we do not get support from the vessel shipyard where the vessel has been built. This is why we, as the vessel operator, need to compensate by stockpiling spare parts.

Why is the spare parts availability strategic?

T.S. - Satair: Planning for availability is really the key for Satair Group and our customers because it is impossible for 100% of spare parts to be available. In our industry, assets undergo regular maintenance which means that certain events can be anticipated. When an unexpected breakage occurs requiring a replacement, the manufacturers manage the situation in house. In a worst case scenario, when a customer needs a piece that you do not hold, you can obtain it directly from your production line.

F.M. - BOURBON: Even if holding stocks represents a huge investment, it remains key. The main objective of spare parts availability is to reduce technical downtime. In 2010, our downtime level was approximately 3.8 % and it is now down to around 1.1 %, a level close to airline standards. This is because we are now able to send spare parts on short notice to West Africa. In Angola or Nigeria for example, it can take up to 15 days to ship a part from Europe to the vessel, so the loss of revenues can be huge!

Which services do you provide to your clients?

T.S. - Satair: We have repair exchange and lease programs – just to mention a few - for aircraft spare parts. We also have programs for small spare parts which are frequently used so they can be available at short notice. In addition, we offer a Plug and Play service and client inventory management. In our partnership with Airbus, we provide a service where all the components inside the aircraft can be detached and replaced completely.

F.M. - BOURBON: We offer similar services but internally to our joint-venture partners as we do not work for external clients. However, we sometimes manage the inventories for external partners, as we rent our own warehouses. This is particularly true in West Africa. We believe standardization is the only way to reduce inventories. At BOURBON, we secure only the standardized fleet. There are approx. 5 million inventories per design. Thus, for 54 vessels, you can share 5 million parts, which is much better than investing 5 million for one vessel. As soon as we know that the spare part is available somewhere in the world and that we can get it on short notice, we no longer hold it in stocks, thus reducing the value of our inventory investment.

T.S. - Satair: I agree with Fabien on the key role of standardization and would add that standardization reduces the customer’s financial investment in the inventory they have to carry. If you standardize your equipment, you may need just two parts for a certain reference, while if you do not, you may need more spare parts! We stock parts in anticipation of our customer not having inventories and we provide them with an estimation of the stock they should have.

F.M. - BOURBON: Satair Group’s business model allowing its client AIRBUS to focus on its core business rather than on spare parts stock management, seems very interesting to us and BOURBON is willing to go in that direction.