Page 17: of Marine Technology Magazine (April 2012)

According to Geir Egil Østebøvik, Managing Director and CEO, Imenco, a key to his companys continued success is the continuity and strength of its engineering department. In fact, the engineering staff makes up 40% of his 100-person company. them based on their needs. Being able to offer the engi- neering resources to deliver to our offshore oil and gas clients a product and system based on their need is the strength of our company.? Typical of this approach was a recent project to designer and deliver a diverless hot tap solution for an oil major. Imenco worked with the client for more than five years to design, develop and deliver a diverless hot tap clamps, allowing it the ability to tap a pipe without putting a diver in the water. Challenges AheadImenco faces many of the same challenges faced by companies large and small globally: a dearth of engi- neering talent. Also, the strength of Norway and its cur- rency, the NOK, makes it particularly challenging to export its brand of expertise globally. The currency exchange rate is a big negative,? admitted Østebøvik. Whereas it used to be about 10 NOK to a dollar, today it is about is 5.5 NOK to a dollar, meaning that if we sell the same product in the same dollar price, we get half the money. And we cant just say to our customers that, were sorry, we have to double your price.? But Imenco continues to grow and prosper, buoyed by a resurgent offshore oil and gas business in its homeland and a plethora of untapped opportunities globally. The offshore market is now increasing, with investment lev- els in and around the North Sea never higher and pro- jected to grow in the coming two or three years.