Background:

In the offshore sector, effective workforce management is essential, not only to meet operational needs but also to ensure compliance with local content regulations and avoid disruptions. In Nigeria, we were engaged by a major FPSO operator to help improve the management of both national and expatriate crew following challenges with previous service providers.

The client was experiencing issues in managing national crew members, and struggled with the administration of visa and immigration processes for expatriates. These challenges were impacting operational continuity and compliance with regulatory expectations.

Challenge

The key challenges faced by the client included:

• Inadequate oversight and support for national crew members by previous agents

• Inefficient handling of immigration and visa processes for expatriate personnel

• Difficulty sourcing qualified nationals for hard-to-fill technical roles onboard

• A growing need to meet local content targets by replacing expat positions with trained national staff

Our Solution

We took over full crewing responsibilities for the client, delivering not just recruitment services, but a comprehensive workforce management solution. Our scope of services included:

• Full crewing services, covering both national and expatriate personnel

• Labour union relationship management, ensuring stability and preventing industrial actions

• Visa and immigration support, including documentation and compliance tracking

We also provided direct support in sourcing junior to supervisory-level personnel onboard, successfully placing 93 candidates (91 nationals and 2 expats) across the project.

In some cases, sourcing qualified nationals for certain offshore positions, such as Senior Maintenance Technicians (deck and process) and ETOs, proved challenging due to a limited talent pool. However, through our targeted search and talent pipeline development, we were able to deliver on these difficult roles as well.

Key Outcomes & Value Delivered

• Operational continuity: Maintained strong collaboration with labour unions, avoiding any industrial disruption onboard

• Workforce development: 5 national crew members were promoted to supervisory or senior roles, replacing expats and directly supporting local content compliance

• Client recognition: Positive feedback was received on crew performance, especially those promoted to Cargo & Process Supervisor roles

• Zero LTI milestone: Contributed to celebrating 5 years of zero Lost Time Incidents (LTI) onboard the FPSO

• Global trust: Based on our performance in Nigeria, the client awarded WTS Energy a global crewing and recruitment contract to support their FPSOs across other international locations

Client Feedback

We’ve received strong and positive feedback from both operational and executive stakeholders. The Operations Manager expressed appreciation for the quality of our crew, while the Director of Nigerian Operations personally thanked WTS Energy in a recent meeting for our effective and consistent management of national personnel.

Read also: Our Recruitment and Manpower Services