FoundOcean is a specialist offshore engineering company and the world leader in the provision of premium-quality structural and pipeline grouting services for the worldwide oil and gas industry.
The company’s services include foundation and structural grouting, structural repair and pipeline support and protection. It also manufactures a range of anti-scour products and provides structural inspection services.
FoundOcean’s involvement in the offshore industry dates from the Middle East’s Umm Shaif and Zakum oil fields in the 1960s, when it was known as Wimpey Laboratories, a division of the George Wimpey Group. This experience was transferred to the North Sea in the early 1970s for the installation of the BP Forties platforms.
Since that time FoundOcean has successfully installed numerous jacket and template structures in all producing areas of the world, and has worked for all the major offshore installation contractors and most of the world’s oil and gas operators.
A comprehensive track record encompasses almost 400 structures and more than 2,000 high-strength structural sleeve connections, as well as numerous structural repairs and pipeline stabilisation projects.
FoundOcean’s principal service base is near Edinburgh, Scotland, with a project management and engineering office located in Marlow, England, close to London’s Heathrow Airport.
The company has equipment strategically located in key hydrocarbon-producing areas of the world, including Europe, the Gulf of Mexico, South East Asia and the Middle East.
A privately-held company, FoundOcean is 100% owned by its directors. The principal shareholders are the chairman, Keith Miller, and the managing director, Jim Bell. Mr Miller is a physicist, educated at Leeds University, then in management at Bradford University. His 35 years’ experience in the offshore industry include time at P&O and Seaforth before joining FoundOcean in 1982.
Mr Bell is a civil engineer, educated at London’s City University, then in business at Cranfield University. His 20 years in the offshore industry include ten years at Oil States Industries prior to joining FoundOcean in 2004.