Nils, could you please tell the readers more about GustoMSC, highlighting the growth of the company in recent years and your background and role in the company?GustoMSC is a leading designer of Mobile

Offshore Units (MOUs) like jack-ups,

semi-submersibles and all types off

offshore vessels. With the basic design

we provide associated equipment to

these MOU’s such as jacking systems for

the jack-ups. At the moment more than

75 MOU’s of GustoMSC design

are under construction at

shipyards across the

globe. Besides

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supply of designs and equipment, we

provide engineering consultancy and, of

course, after sales services to our clients.

Our headquarters are based in Schiedam

in the Netherlands, where we work

with some 200 very talented pro-

fessionals on our innovations

and our projects.

This installment of Prospertere Personified we meet the pioneers of offshore engineering. GustoMSC is one of the leading design and engineering companies involved in all types of mobile units/vessels for the offshore industry, including the delivery of associated equipment. Nils van Nood, Managing Director of GustoMSC sits down with The Prospector to discuss the companies future plans for growth. Nils it’s great to meet you…

Offshore Pioneers

GustoMSC in its present form was

founded in 2011, but the actual origin

of the company dates back to 1862. As

such, the company represents more than

150 years of experience and proven tech-

nology. Until the late 1970’s Gusto was

a very innovative shipyard specialized

in dredging and offshore equipment.

For example at Gusto the first European

jack-up drilling platform “SeaShell”

(1959) was designed and built for Shell,

which was right during the very first

years, let’s say the birth of the offshore

industry. When the Gusto shipyard had

to close down at the end of the 1970s,

the design activities were continued in

two companies: Gusto Engineering and

Marine Structure Consultants (MSC). Both

companies resided in IHC Caland, which

later became SBM Offshore. The compa-

nies joined forces in 2011 as GustoMSC

and became independent in 2012 when

GustoMSC was divested by SBM as part of

a refocus on SBM’s core activities.

The innovative spirit from the ship-

yard years has remained and actually is

an important foundation of our success.

Based on our historical track record and

our continuous contributions to our

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industry, we are proud to call ourselves

The Pioneers of Offshore Engineering.In 1998, my career started at Gusto as

a Structural Engineer with an education

as naval architect at Delft University with

majors in offshore engineering. Later

on I headed the Structural Design De-

partment and the Product Development

Group and was ultimately Chief Engineer

responsible for all engineering activi-

ties within Gusto. When GustoMSC was

founded I joined as Manager Designs

and became Managing Director in 2012.

As for recent market developments,

GustoMSC is enjoying an increased de-

mand for the CJ series of jack-up drilling

rigs: our global market share for drilling

jack-ups rose from 20 to more than 30

percent of all orders placed worldwide

in 2013. Furthermore, we have seen an

increasing demand for accommodation

jack-ups, semi’s and construction jack-

ups. Since 1959, GustoMSC delivered the

designs of 224 mobile offshore units,

consisting of 129 jack-ups, 44 semi-subs

and 50 vessels. As mentioned earlier, cur-

rently there are more than 75 MOU’s under

construction at shipyards worldwide. The

recent growth in orders underlines the

appreciation of our basic designs.

GustoMSC design of the EDrill-3 for Energy Drilling in Singapore.

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It’s clear that offshore energy compa-nies recognize the quality delivered by GustoMSC. Could you please point out to us the company’s ambitions and the strategy in place for the future?The two key aspects of our companies

past and certainly also its future are

the quality of our solutions, which is

best in class, and our ability to innovate

and provide the market with the right

solutions at the right time. Besides

improving and optimizing our designs,

we are working on new designs and we

continuously develop and add to the

fundamental know-how which is the

foundation of our company.

Our portfolio is the most diverse com-

pared to any other offshore design and en-

gineering company in the world: we have

successfully provided many designs for

jack-ups, semi-submersibles and offshore

vessels. These MOUs are designed for a

number of operations, ranging from explo-

ration drilling, construction to production

and maintenance. As such we cover not

only offshore oil and gas, but also offshore

wind and offshore civil construction. By this

approach, we compensate the peaks and

troughs that occur in any of these single

markets we cover. Thus we are less sus-

ceptible to economic cycles. Furthermore,

GustoMSC is not affiliated to a specific yard,

equipment supplier or parent company

that could restrict the options available to

its clients. Clients of GustoMSC are therefore

free to choose wherever they wish their

MOUs to be built.

Due to the replacement and new

build demand, GustoMSC’s installed base

grows continuously. Our ambition is to

further expand our reputation as the

provider of the best MOU designs avail-

able in the market and we continuously

improve our cooperation with the

owners, operators and builders of our

designs. We also aim to be an organiza-

tion that continuously learns and

improves, where the best talent grows

and flourishes, because our people are

the very key to our success.

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How important is it for GustoMSC to continually develop new solutions and ways to provide its clients with additional services such as feasibility and concept studies?GustoMSC’s analytical abilities have

always been and still are first class. We

develop our own software and test it

thoroughly so that we know exactly what

we are doing; no black boxes. We are able

to analyze our designs down to the detail

and to optimize them. Consequently, our

units can operate in deeper waters, in

higher waves and stronger currents than

comparable units designed by our com-

petitors. For instance, we see that harsh

environments and Arctic areas are on

everybody’s agendas. We are developing

new ideas to be able to employ jack-ups,

drill ships and semi-submersibles in those

areas. New engineering approaches and

calculation methods will have to be fur-

ther defined, refined and verified, where

necessary based on model tests.

GustoMSC has already built up a

strong reputation as an engineering

company, but we also supply associated

equipment with our designs and we are

constantly improving and innovating in

that field as well. That includes the ser-

vices we provide with our equipment. We

will certainly continue to cooperate with

our clients and develop game-changing

solutions for mobile offshore units.

The GustoMSC brand stands for Dutch in-depth design and engineering knowledge of mobile offshore units and the conceptual power to develop game-changing solutions for the off-shore industry. Could you please go into more detail about the offshore indus-try, highlighting the challenges faced by the oil & gas companies, particularly NOCs (National Oil Companies) and IOCs (Integrated Oil Companies)?The key to success for NOCs and IOCs is

the development of new solutions and

technologies that enable them to enter

reserves that are being found in complex

environments: primarily deeper, harsher

and colder. Besides a number of NOCs, we

believe that the IOCs continue to be key

drivers for technological developments

in the oil and gas industry. They demand

the development of game-changing

solutions and, as such, are co-producers

of new technologies. Excellent business

relations with the NOCs and IOCs are key

in enabling GustoMSC to develop the right

solutions for the future.

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Is there anything you would like to cover before we conclude the interview? Based on our success, we are pleased

that our company is steadily growing.

This has led us to plan a move to new

offices close to our current location. The

Timmerloods (the carpentry workshop

of the former Wilton-Fijenoord shipyard)

will be transformed into the new head-

quarters of GustoMSC. This three-story

industrial building will be refurbished

into modern and transparent offices,

which will facilitate even more intensive

cooperation and serve as a great meet-

ing place. We plan to move in Q3 2015.

Prior to the move, we will have ample

opportunity to meet your readers at Rio

Oil & Gas or any of the other upcoming

events. We look forward to it! ▲

GustoMSC Conceptual study for semi-tender EDrill-4 and EDrill-5 for Energy Drilling in Singapore.