The benefits of FROG carriers

Trinidad and Tobago

Amelia Miguel, general manager of Miguel Mechanical Services, and Allister Paul, the company’s operations and maintenance manager, talk to The Energy Year about the benefits of the company’s personnel carriers and new opportunities it sees in the market. Miguel Mechanical Services provides maintenance for oilfield equipment, as well as crane rental and operations and the provision of personnel carriers.

What are your key services and what sets Miguel Mechanical apart competitively?
Amelia MIGUEL: We are a company with over 30 years of experience within the oil and gas industry. We maintain all the equipment for most of the oil and gas platforms, both onshore and offshore. We maintain cranes of any size, and we rent some as well. We have a fleet of 6-10 cranes that we rent out to different companies, along with pumps and jacks. We maintain anything along the lines of mechanical, electrical and torquing.
Crane operations are our main service in demand. However, we are the only company within this region that offers one service with six components. All of our technicians are crane operators, but they also function as mechanical technicians, electrical technicians, bolt torquing specialists, riggers and inspectors. We developed a training programme for all our technicians to cover these so that one person can do the work of six people.
Our clients know that when we send them a crane operator, they’re also getting a technician. So if something is wrong with the crane while they’re doing the operation, they fix it on the spot.

What are the benefits of the FROG and FROG XT personnel carriers that you offer?
Allister PAUL: The FROG is under the Reflex Marine brand, and we are the regional provider for it, so we do the purchasing, as well as the maintenance and upkeep for all of the components and parts of the FROGs. If anybody requires a FROG within the region, Miguel Mechanical Services is the provider that they will come to, and we will purchase and maintain the equipment for them.
Previously, the Billy Pugh carrier was the device that was most commonly used in the industry, but now most players have transitioned to the FROG due to several benefits it offers. It doesn’t put strain on people’s backs and it has a stretcher holding capacity in case any people are injured and need to be evacuated. It’s buoyant and self-righting, so with all that advancement, it’s a better fit for transporting people offshore than the equipment previously used.
Also, in terms of economic value, using a FROG is much cheaper than using a helicopter service and because they come in different sizes for personnel-carrying capacity, you can achieve a faster rate of transport. Most of the larger players are going in the direction of the FROG because most of them are moving away from helicopter flights. However, they may still use the helicopter in an emergency.

Which upstream companies operating locally do you provide the FROG carriers for?
AM: For bpTT and Perenco, we maintain and supply FROG carriers. Most of the other oil and gas companies still use the Billy Pugh. We are in discussion with those other companies, reviewing the pros and cons of transitioning to the FROG. It’s going to take time because most of them are accustomed to one type of equipment and it is challenging to change that.

What new opportunities do you see for your company locally and regionally with increasing upstream activity?
AP: Some of the upstream companies operating in Trinidad are investing in new platforms, which would mean their demand for our services is going to increase.

AM: There is also a great demand for our services in Suriname. Three of the companies there that we met with asked us to do training and provide crane support for them.
Suriname is now developing an oil and gas industry on a large scale, so they are looking for companies who have experience to assist. Most of the equipment that they have is not in keeping with the acceptable standards.
Then there are other clients requesting that we bring their equipment up to standard so that they can use it when they are ready to move forward.

How prepared is your team to service projects within the renewables sector?
AM: Our services will be the same in that maintenance will be provided for the same kinds of equipment. We’ve already started to educate our employees with regards to the new style of equipment and its maintenance. That way, when renewables projects emerge at a larger scale, we will be knowledgeable about exactly what we’ll be doing to support them.

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