Already we are more than half way through the first month of the new year, and it begs the question what will 2017 bring for the Society for Underwater Technology (SUT), asks Bob Allwood.
With the price of oil having stabilised for a little while at least, around $55/barrel, we are certainly seeing the first signs of increasing confidence.
However, there is still significant readjustment taking place in our industry with continued job losses.
On the positive side, in late November last year we ran our first five-day Subsea Awareness training course for quite some time.
This particular course was a completely updated and revamped version of the course we have been successfully presenting in Aberdeen for more than 15 years.
The course was fully booked, attended by a good number of operator delegates, and we have another one planned for the near future.
Each year the SUT regularly supports a number of major third-party events relevant to its interests.
2017 will be no exception, with the first event of the year being Subsea UK’s Subsea Expo in Aberdeen on February 1-3.
We have a stand (No. 123) in the exhibition, so please stop by if you have the opportunity.
An event of technically wider interest that we have supported for most of the lifetime of the SUT, is Oceanology International.
Biennial, it does not take place in the UK this year, but we are very pleased to be supporting the inaugural Oceanology International North America event with takes place in San Diego in February 14 -16. This is not a typical oil & gas show, but addresses how we can benefit from the ocean and its resources, whilst protecting the environment and maintaining sustainability.
In April (4-6), SUT will be supporting once again the ever growing Ocean Business event in Southampton. 2017 is also a very
special year for the society as, during September 12-14, we shall be running our very own 8th International Conference in Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics at the Royal Geographical Society, London.
This five-yearly event has become one of the leading conferences in this field in the world.
Organised principally by a conference committee that comprises members not just from the UK, but also our Houston and Perth branches, early signs are extremely good and we hope to comfortably surpass the record number of 380 delegates that we welcomed at the previous event in 2012.
Of course, the odd year means that Offshore Europe will be taking place once again in Aberdeen, September 5-8.
The SUT will of course be present and in support of this event once again. However, more about that at another time.
Bob Allwood is CEO of the Society for Underwater Technology
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