Bristow scoops Gulf of Mexico SAR deal with Hess

Offshore helicopter operator Bristow has been awarded a contract with U.S.-based oil company Hess for medevac and search and rescue (SAR) services in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company said on Wednesday that the contract was awarded to its subsidiary Bristow U.S. LLC.

This is Bristow’s second contract in the Gulf of Mexico after being awarded a contract for SAR services with Shell in late March.

As a result of the deal, Hess joins Shell as the second member of a new SAR consortium formed by Bristow, which guarantees SAR and medevac response to members 24 hours a day, seven days a week, covering their entire Gulf of Mexico operations.

Bristow Americas Regional Director, Samantha Willenbacher, said: “We are honored to provide this critical lifesaving service on behalf of Hess.

“We are drawing on our years of experience of operating SAR around the world, including for all of the UK on behalf of the HM Coastguard, and partnering with Acadian Air Med to deliver the highest standard of rescue service and medical care in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Bristow will operate the new service from its standalone SAR facility at the South Lafourche Airport in Galliano, dedicating a Sikorsky S-92 and a Leonardo AW139 aircraft for the contract.

The S-92 dedicated to this service is the only all-weather heavy SAR aircraft operating in the Gulf of Mexico, with the speed and extended operational range to reach ultra-deepwater rigs and installations, and the necessary capacity to respond to multiple-casualty situations.

“With our rescue fleet, all parts of the Gulf of Mexico are within reach of this lifesaving service,” added Willenbacher.

The S-92 helicopter is the most advanced aircraft in Sikorsky’s civil product line, equipped with forward-looking infrared (FLIR), auto hover, twin-hoist, mission management, and increased onboard medical capabilities.

Bristow’s AW139 helicopter features a 700Mhz radio for communication with multiagency responders, mission management capabilities, external rescue hoist system, and critical care medical equipment.

Onboard the aircraft are two pilots, a rescue hoist operator, a certified rescue swimmer, and a critical care transport-flight paramedic. This advanced aircraft capability is supported by onsite contingency operations consisting of air-droppable survival kits, linked raft systems, marine vessel salvage pumps, and point of injury industrial confined space and technical rescue.