The Norwegian headquartered ocean services provider DeepOcean has been awarded an extension to its existing frame agreement with oil major Equinor for the provision of subsea inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR) services.
As a part of the frame agreement renewal, DeepOcean will deploy specialised IMR vessels, along with comprehensive subsea services, throughout 2026 and into 2027.
The scope of work also includes onshore engineering and project management services for various subsea operations.
These will be managed from DeepOcean’s office in Haugesund, Norway, and supported by its remote operations center at Killingøy.
“With this contract, DeepOcean will deliver uninterrupted IMR activities for Equinor from 2006 to 2035 – an IMR collaboration spanning three decades,” reads the company’s statement.
The partners in November 2024 signed an eight-year contract for IMR services covering Equinor-operated assets on the Norwegian continental shelf and in Europe. In accordance with DeepOcean, the contract will be served by an extensive team of specialist subsea engineers, a large subsea tool pool, remote operations technology, and the newbuild IMR vessel Rem Ocean which will be chartered to DeepOcean.
Olaf A. Hansen, managing director of DeepOcean’s Europe operation, says that “This award ensures continuity of IMR operations for Equinor until we take delivery of the environmentally friendly, next-generation newbuild IMR vessel, Rem Ocean, in 2027. The transition between vessels will now be seamless.”
