Reef Subsea has appointed a new chief executive to oversee a major restructuring of the subsea service company.
Duncan MacPherson, previously managing director of the Norwegian group’s Reef Subsea Norway subsidiary, takes the helm on a permanent basis after a spell as acting CEO.
He replaces Mark Preece, whose abrupt departure in March after nearly three years in the role was announced as a decision reached “by mutual agreement”.
Mr MacPherson will oversee a group-wide restructuring at Reef, which has operations in Aberdeen. A spokeswoman for the company said a merger of its inspection, maintenance and repair division and its power and umbilical unit to form a new vessel service business would involve bases in the Granite City.
She added that no sites would close and the changes were likely to lead to further jobs.
Reef said its restructuring would allow it to remain focused on customer needs to become even more competitive within core markets.
Mr MacPherson said: “We strongly believe that we operate in an exciting market, with growth opportunities, and we want to be able to capitalise and reach our aim of being the best tier-two subsea contractor in the world.”
Reef also announced the cancellation of an order for a new vessel from Olympic Shipping that was due to be delivered this summer.
Further details emerged in a filing to the Norwegian stock exchange, in which Olympic said the reason for the termination was Reef’s failure to meet certain conditions in the charter contract.
Meanwhile, Mr Preece – who Reef said had left to pursue other interests – is now executive vice-president, commercial and business development, at Aberdeen, London and Houston-based subsea company Ceona.