EIC Member Focus: Ian Sherrington, Waves Group

Tell us a bit about Waves Group

Waves Group is a marine consultancy originally known as Mwaves and Cwaves, which formed in 2005; we are celebrating our 15th anniversary this year. In the offshore energy sector, we provide marine warranty services and engineering services for offshore renewables and oil and gas platform decommissioning. In the shipping sector, we provide services for casualty investigation and management, legal disputes and ports. 

We have an extremely professional and experienced team of maritime civil engineers, master mariners, naval architects and structural engineers.  

What would our readers be surprised to know about Waves?

We are not just a consultancy service company. We have developed some unique capabilities for the use of digital data that are already helping our clients reduce and manage risks and increase certainty for marine and offshore projects. This includes the use of 3D imagery of subsea assets including power cables, moorings, risers, subsea architecture, fixed platforms and monopiles. We are also working with wind farm developers on pre-lease approvals, to reduce risk in their planned transport and installation operations.  

What has been Waves’ biggest achievement in the last three years?

There are many achievements that would fall into this category, so I must mention a few; among the most notable are approving the construction of the entire Beatrice offshore wind farm, which involved a solid three-year period of intense activity.

Next, I would mention our 3D mapping of the wreck of the World War II tanker War Mehtar, and the assessment of pollution threat using state-of-the-art technology. Finally, approving the removal of the largest offshore oil and gas platform in the North Sea.    

Your operations in the offshore wind market has boomed. Tell us a bit more about that.

Yes, we have benefited from involvement in a significant number of offshore wind projects around the UK and offshore Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and the South of France. It’s an exciting industry and our involvement with stakeholders throughout the life cycle of a windfarm project gives us a keen insight into most aspects of the windfarm industry. We have been involved in this market since some of the earliest offshore wind farms were constructed and we continue to build on our experience.  

2019 saw your organisation extend your global reach in Asia; what does 2020 hold for Waves?

In 2019 we worked as marine warranty surveyors on Taiwan’s Formosa 1, phase 2 project, which involved the installation of 20 wind turbines in a typhoon and seismically active region. This was a fantastic experience and we continue to offer our services in Taiwan. We have also opened an office in Singapore, which is proving to be very successful, but we do have eyes on Australia, Japan and further north.