The Lamnalco Group is a leading marine support services provider to oil and gas terminals and ports worldwide.

It owns and operates towing, berthing, docking and terminal assist vessels; provides inspection, maintenance and repair through IMCA-certified and class-approved diving services; offers specialised marine support personnel, including pilots and berthing masters; and provides class-approved security, fire-fighting and oil pollution response vessels.
Business development manager Matthew Callan says the firm has been doing business in the UAE for more than 40 years. It also operates in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, Oman, Yemen and Iraq giving clients substantial regional support and backup.
“This growth has been founded on the key support of our parent firms, the dredging group, Royal Boskalis Westminster, and the Alireza Group in Saudi Arabia,” he continues. “With such a strong footing, the group has grown in parallel with both the UAE and the region in general, initially supporting crude oil exports and production increases through the recent expansion in LNG exports.”
The group now has more than 100 marine support vessels combining cost-effective and cutting-edge technology, such as the single-vessel contract for a Robert Allan design Z-Tech currently on long-term charter for Saudi Aramco in the Red Sea. Its business capabilities include the full operation and management of port and terminal facilities, such as the joint venture Irshad  with Adnoc which manages and operates Abu Dhabi ports, harbours and terminals.
Callan says the firm’s impressive energy-driven growth continues unabated with long-term operations in Angola and North Africa scheduled to begin this year with new vessels being delivered for contract start-up.
 “Against the backdrop of strong growth, the group is building 15 new speculative ASD vessels for terminal support ranging from 65-90 TBP, which are due for delivery in the next two years,” he adds.
With the growth of offshore work, such as that being experienced in Saudi Arabia, where Saudi Aramco has committed itself to quadrupling exploration activities to boost oil reserves by 25 per cent to 10.8 million barrels per day, the companies speculative build programme provides its clients in the Middle East a range of Azimuth terminal support vessels including 65T Terminal Support vessels capable of operating in tight harbour confines, 65T Deep Sea Escort vessels which are extremely maneuverable and amongst very few escort-class tugs currently being built on the market and a 90 T production support vessel designed for FPSO/SBM support that is DPII-compatible with ROV/ dive capabilities and wet and dry capacities.
Callan says the group prides itself on its health and safety record to reinforce the safe working ethos that has been developed. The adherence to this ethos has led the company to full ISO 9000 compliance and the development of ISO14000 to provide a fully integrated management system.
“This has lead to substantial health, safety and environment (HSE) achievements,” he notes. “There has not been a single HSE incident at the BP Amoco Hamriyah terminal in more than 20 years; no lost time incident (LTI) for PDO in Oman in the last seven years; and one million operating hours with no LTI for BP in Qatar. These key achievements spurn the group on to achieve ever better HSE performance in conjunction with our clients to keep our sea staff safe and the operations continuing.”
Callan says one of the group’s key differentiators is that it recruits, trains and develops nationals from the countries where it operates to international standards.
“We work against long-term contracts, which we believe offers a significant opportunity to contribute to the local population where we operate,” he explains. “This has been a significant factor behind our growth in Nigeria where 100 per cent of all offshore staff are Nigerian.”
Callan says the group developed competency standards in Oman for officers, crew and divers against its long-term operation at the Mina Al Fahal Terminal, which were subsequently taken on by the Omani government as the national standard.