MORE than 500 people attended an Oil and Gas UK event in Aberdeen last night honouring the achievements of people and companies that had made outstanding contributions to the success of the energy industry.
Lord Marland, parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department of Energy, presented each winner with a specially commissioned trophy designed by sculptor Elin Isaksson.
Malcolm Webb, chief executive of industry body OGUK, told the audience at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre: “We face both economic and technical challenges in developing the maturing basin of the UK continental shelf and it is vital that we celebrate the abilities, technical skills and ambitions of people working in our industry.”
The award for overall excellence went to Mark Arnold, master of North Star Shipping’s Grampian Explorer platform supply vessel.
He was nominated by North Star owner Craig Group for his outstanding ability to drive both his own professional development, and that of his shipping cadets, plus for his contribution to improving the group’s safety and maintenance-management programmes.
Captain Arnold, 26, is believed to be the youngest master mariner to take control of a platform supply vessel in UK waters, having begun his career as a cadet at 17. He said: “I would like this award to act as an inspiration to other young people as it proves that a career at sea is both fulfilling and worthwhile.
“It is vital that the North Sea oil and gas sector has a steady stream of cadets that can lead the marine industry forward into the next generation.”
Young technician of the year was Kevin Dunn, who started as a technician with BP on the Magnus platform and has risen up the ranks to become a process engineer. He was nominated by BP because he is said to have demonstrated an outstanding ability to use his analytical and problem-solving skills to bring about innovations on every project in which he has been involved.
Wood Group Engineering (North Sea) picked up the award for people development. The firm is said to have developed a robust training and competency framework to allow employees a seamless transition from one contract to another.
The award for mentoring went to Gill Cowlam, acting engineering authority at BP for her outstanding commitment to coaching.
She was active as a mentor to offshore technicians when she worked as an installation manager and continues to commit her spare time to coaching chemical engineers.
The award for business efficiency went to Aker Solutions, which has developed an integrated project control system to provide secure global access to project information, real-time reporting of management information and automatic progression of drawings and documents.
The automated procedures help to eliminate opportunities for human error and provide a transparent mechanism for both the client and Aker Solutions.
Principal sponsor of the awards was Shell UK.