Tag Offshore accused of misleading ONGC
Mumbai-based offshore support vessel supplier Tag Offshore is facing allegations it is endangering safety at ONGC's offshore fields.
Last week "a concerned Indian citizen" wrote a two-page letter to ONGC director offshore TK Sengupta alleging Tag Offshore secured a contract for its vessel by providing a false certificate for winch stall capacity. "Providing equipment below minimum specifications is extremely dangerous," reads the anonymous letter, seen by this report.
Tag mobilised its AHTS vessel Tag 12 for ONGC in the western offshore on May 10, 2016 under a three-year contract. "One of ONGC's critical requirements in the 80-tonne bollard capacity AHTS tender was that the vessel should have a minimum winch stall capacity of 150 tonnes," reads the letter.
"In its bid, Tag submitted a certificate from China Classification Society to ONGC, stamped by a notary, showing the rated load winch capacity of 153 tonnes. Based on the certificate submitted by Tag Offshore, ONGC accepted the vessel and it was mobilised after winning a contract." But the letter writer alleges that upon entering the same certificate number on the China Classification Society website he discovered the rated winch load capacity is only 127 tonnes.
Copies of the certificate submitted by Tag, ONGC's bid criteria, and a screenshot of the China Classification Society website were submitted as proof. A Tag spokesperson insists the vessel remains fit for ONGC which has hired 14 to 15 boats at present.
