OIL & GASSAFETY TRAINING VETERAN RICK PARISH CHAIRMAN & CEO AQUARIUS GLOBAL &MOST (MOBILE OFFSHORE SAFETY TRAINING) Copyright i5 Media / Aquarius Global ©2022 All Rights Reserved

Abu Dhabi, UAE | 31/08/2022, News Direct:

Rick Parish, the founder and former chairman of Marine &Offshore Group (M&O Group) ­­– the company that revolutionised mobileoffshore safety training for the oil and gas industries in the 1990s – todayannounced that his company Aquarius Global has launched a new mobilesafety training system that is set to raise the standards and the benchmarkyet again for offshore safety training globally.

Mobile Offshore Safety Training (MOST) – a subsidiary of Parish’s investment and holding company AquariusGlobal – has developed the “INSITU” system, which will once again redefinethe nature of offshore safety training using the latest technology andsimulations with state-of-the-art equipment, advanced techniques andprocedures, coupled with world class safety training instruction.

The new INSITU mobile safety training system prepares all personneloperating on oil platforms, oil rigs and drilling decks for a wide range ofemergency safety training whilst offshore and onshore. Critically, it alsoprovides valuable safety training while personnel are being transportedbetween the offshore and onshore installations, preparing for a range ofemergency scenarios, ranging from helicopters ditching, survival mode in thesea, to emergency life raft deployment and failure.

INSITU - MOBILE OFFSHORE SAFETY TRAINING SYSTEM (MOST) Copyright i5Media / Aquarius Global © 2022 All Rights Reserved

The specialist modular training platform means that any configurationcan be constructed to the clients’ specific requirements, from a basictraining facility to a more advanced full-scale option. The trainingplanforms can also include dedicated classroom facilities if required withany combination of training scenarios delivered to the Offshore PetroleumIndustry Training Organisation (OPITO) standard.

The standard training centre resource includes:

·A 10-metre heated pool completewith a Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) system and heli-winchsimulator

· Totally Enclosed Motor Propelled Survival Craft (TEMPSC) emergencylifeboat training module including a separate pool with boarding platforms

· Fire extinguisher and self-rescue module including smokehouse

· Equipment servicing facilities

· Pool pumps, heaters and filtration equipment

Available options are

· Smokehouse and Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) rescue module

· Advanced fire fighting module

· Confined space training and rescue module

· Helideck emergency response module

· Paramedic training module

· Working at heights module

INSITU’s modular system allows it to be assembled and disassembled forrapid deployment with specialist training teams anywhere in the world. Thenew system comes pre-loaded with more than 200 safety training coursesdeveloped by one of the world’s largest offshore training companies. It can be delivered and operational withinthree months (subject to operational requirements) anywhere in the world,unlike fixed-structure safety training centres, which take an average of 24months to develop and build. The modular system allows it to be fullyscalable from a small system of three pods up to a more advanced option of 10pods, catering for every emergency scenario on an offshore oil platform ordrilling rig.

Personnel receive the very highest standards of safety trainingdelivered from a team of highly experienced instructors with over 27 yearsspecialist expertise to become qualified at a global standard and, dependingon the clients’ requirements for it to be OPITO-approved.

Commenting on the new safety training system, Chairman of AquariusGlobal Rick Parish said:

“‘Train, learn, rehearse. Train, learn, rehearse.’ Those vital wordscan make all the difference in offshore safety training, and which one daycould save many lives. The oil and gas industry by its very nature isextremely dangerous and hazardous because the work environment is a floatingstructure in the sea with explosive and flammable substances and machineryunder pressure.

When a serious incident such as a fire, explosion or emergency occurs,the space in which to tackle that incident is also dynamic and fast changing. The safety trainingprovided needs to reflect that dynamic and prepare the workforce for alleventualities and outcomes.”

The impact on human life and the environment resulting from anaccident on an oil rig or drilling platform also cannot be ignored. We onlyhave to look back in history at incidents such as the Piper Alpha oilrig disaster in the North Sea which killed 167 people, the Alexander LKielland disaster in the North Sea where the platform tilted 30 degrees,eventually capsizing and of the 212 workers on board only 89 survived.

In more recent times the Deepwater Horizon tragedy not onlyresulted in a tragic loss of life but was associated with one of the biggestenvironmental disasters of the last 50 years that has cost in excess of $65Billion to clean-up. This catastrophic accident had a significant bearing onthe lives of all people who lived around the shores of the Gulf, and not onlythose who worked in the Energy Sector.

Parish continued.

“M&O Group has played a pivotal and leading role in thedevelopment of the mobile offshore safety training systems for the last threedecades in the oil and gas sectors. These tragic events serve as a reminderto us of the vital necessity that all offshore personnel receive the veryhighest level of safety training with regular refresher programs.

“The new INSITU safety training system provides clients with a trulyversatile mobile safety training system that is futureproofed for offshoresafety training and provides rapid capability. It has been conceived anddesigned against a backdrop of our extensive 27 years’ experience andknowledge of the oil and gas industryand as innovators and providers of world class safety training. Efficiencyand effectiveness are at the forefront of everything we do.

The INSITU modular system can be deployed anywhere in the world andcan be configured to a client’s unique requirements with a three-month leadtime to operational readiness. This minimises capital costs considerably,provides rapid training for personnel and allows for the system to berelocated to other locations globally, providing a cost-effective mobilesolution. We combine the latesttechnology, safety and emergency training techniques with real-lifesimulations and world-class safety training instructors.”

When Parish sold M&O Group to the Wood Group (Aberdeen Scotland)for $25 million, at the time it wasthe second largest provider of offshore safety training in the world with operations in 13 countries. Itrevolutionised the oil and gas industry by making the safety training systemsmobile and transportable, allowing for the first “plug and play” systems tobe quickly dismantled and loaded onto a helicopter to be transported anywherein the world.

But what also makes Parish and his MOST team unique to other offshoresafety training providers is the exceptional training provided by theirdirecting staff of world class instructors who are amongst the best in theworld. Entrepreneur and veteran Parish, who served in the Australian specialforces and Australian para-rescue services, pooled his extensive military andpara-rescue training knowledge to develop a system that was portable andcould be taught by a small but highly qualified and effectivetwo-to-three-man team, with a rapid deployment capability anywhere in theworld. The model drew on the same principles of special forces training.

The Principals of thebusiness completed their own HUET training way back in 1984. M&Ocommenced training on the original “orange two-seater” portable HUET trainerin 1995, having recognised that an unfilled gap existed in the industry. Upuntil this point all the offshore safety training was being conducted inAberdeen, Scotland, and a handful of other major regional cities. Portableon-site training was an extremely attractive andsought after solution, for companies who operated in the remote areas ofemerging markets.

The uniqueness of the 1^st generation HUET Trainers(Ditchers) meant training could be carried out both onshore andoffshore sites and was even set up and used in local swimming pools. Itprovided safe and extremely realistic helicopter escape training that would prepare oil and gas industrypersonnel to cope with any range of emergency scenarios.

M&O singlehandedly raised the standards and the bar for industrysafety training with this development. For the first time it gave the oil andgas industry the ability to provide high quality, realistic and simulatedtraining to its workforce, that was commerciallyfocussed, and which ultimately would help save lives. M&O providedemergency training in locations that up until then had not received any ofthis type of ditcher training previously.

In 2000, this was then followed by thedevelopment of the 2^nd generation MOST variant, as the next phaseof global operations. This was to meet the growing demand for OPITO approvedtraining in emerging markets, the training involved higher student numbersand more complex and advanced programs were being sought by its clients. Aspart of these requirements, M&O then expanded its training centrecapability by developing bespoke training centres in 13 countries.

Parish added:

“When I formed M&O Group, we set out to pioneer the very higheststandards of offshore safety training for the oil and gas industry. I am gladto say that 27 years later, we are still defining and shaping the very highstandards and excellence –­ not just in offshore safety training systems, butalso onshore, led by our highly experienced COO Mark Peck and his team.

“Our track record and reputation in this sector has been achieved by strivingfor the very highest standards of training and instruction from our teams usingthe latest para-rescue and safety training methods, complimented by thelatest technologies and simulation techniques.”

For more information on INSITU and MOST Training please go to

https://aquariusglobal.com/para-rescue-pioneers-who-developed-mobile-offshore-safety-training-for-oil-gas-industry-launch-advanced-new-safety-training-system/

www.aquariusglobal.com

For more information, please contact

Gerard Franklin Global Head Of PR & Communications Aquarius Global

+ 44 07791 039636 e: [email protected]