Oceaneering buys subsea technology firm from Aberdeen

U.S.-based Oceaneering has acquired Scotland’s Ecosse Subsea, a provider of offshore engineering, seabed preparation, route clearance and trenching services to the renewable energy and oil and gas industries, for approximately 50 million pounds sterling (about $70 million).

Headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland, Ecosse builds and operates seabed preparation, route clearance and trenching tools for submarine cables and pipelines on an integrated basis that includes vessels, ROVs and survey services.

According to Oceaneering’s statement on Monday, enabling technologies acquired in the transaction include Ecosse’s modular SCAR Seabed System, capable of completing the entire trenching work scope (route preparation, boulder clearance, trenching and backfill), and its newly developed SCARJet trenching system.

The SCARJet is an evolutionary trenching system designed for use with standard work class ROVs and adds jetting and post-lay trenching capabilities to the existing pre-cut methods offered by the SCAR plowing tools.

Roderick A. Larson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Oceaneering, said, “We are pleased to complete the acquisition of Ecosse, which we believe offers Oceaneering the opportunity to expand our service line capabilities and grow our market position within the offshore renewable energy market, and provide our customers with proven tools to optimize installation projects.

“The addition of Ecosse reflects our commitment to expand into the adjacent renewable energy market to more comprehensively serve the offshore energy industry.”

Mike Wilson, former Chairman of Ecosse, said, “Together we can establish a stronger platform to take on even larger and higher profile projects in the renewables and oil and gas industries.”

Mark Gillespie, Director, Global Renewables and Subsea Projects of Ecosse, said, “We are excited to become part of Oceaneering. With Oceaneering’s global strength, we expect to be better positioned to further penetrate the growing and emerging renewables and cable markets in Europe and the United States.”

Oceaneering intends to report the future financial results of Ecosse through Oceaneering’s Subsea Projects segment.