GALLERY: Maiden offshore flight to Statoil’s Mariner field

Offshore helicopter operator CHC has conducted the first flight to the Statoil-operated Mariner field in the UK North Sea.

The inaugural flight left Aberdeen Base this week heading to the Mariner B Floating Storage Unit, which recently arrived to the UK from South Korea.

CHC will initially be operating one Sikorsky S-92 aircraft, to support the Mariner B FSU and the Noble Lloyd Noble jack-up drilling rig which is due to be on location later this year.

Helicopter support will eventually increase to two S92 aircraft during the main hook-up and commissioning phase from mid-2017.

The contract, awarded in 2014, has a duration of five years, plus an extension option for up to three years to support the Statoil-operated Mariner field, located 250 kilometers off the north-east coast of Scotland. Mariner is the first Statoil-operated field on the UK Continental Shelf.