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www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 51 rental equipment, geoscience and simulation technology to offshore construction and service companies. • Global Flow Technologies - offered a wide range of gate, globe, check and ball valves primarily to the downstream market. • Allied Technologies - supplied engineered process sys- tems and field services from the well head to the refinery. • Offshore Joint Services - provided offshore pipeline field joint coating service and technology to the offshore pipeline construction industry and field installation equipment to the onshore pipeline construction market.

Today, Forum employs 2200 employees in countries around the world. We are located in most of the areas that are strategic to energy exploration and production.

This includes North America, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. More than 60% of our sales are out- side the United States and 40% are directly related to off- shore activity. We now operate the business in two dis- tinct segments, "Drilling & Subsea" and "Production &

Infrastructure," to ensure better alignment with customer interests.

When and why was Forum created?

Jones Knowing our history, it is easy to understand why we have built a very strong platform upon which to con- tinue our growth. Forum was created because we believe there is significant opportunity for a new, fresh, strong supplier of product technology to the energy industry; a supplier that is focused on identifying and developing only the best new products without carrying the baggage of the past. We believe Forum will become recognized as "the" place people will want to work because our prac- tices, ethics and culture are focused on becoming a large company with a small company feel. People are the key to success and we are working hard to build a team of the best.

What do you count as your core business strength? “Previously, remote operations were treated as contingency measures and the hardware was designed as such. Today, dependence on the ROV for criti- cal tasks related directly to the success of the operation are rou- tine. This has allowed dramatic changes to occur in equipment design, resulting in simpler designs that are more cost effective and reliable.” — Charles Jones