Home » Jumbo Offshore Insights #2: A closer look at business development and sales

Jumbo Offshore is fascinatingly dynamic. Besides its floating assets (the Heavy Lift Construction Vessels), the company’s core capabilities have been built on the skills of a committed team of experts. To get to know the company better, this series of articles connects with some of the key people in Jumbo Offshore.

Following on from our conversation with Jumbo Offshore’s Brian Boutkan, we arranged a Teams call with Business Development Manager Alexandra Santiago. Alexandra is based in Houston, Texas; she represents Jumbo Offshore in the oil & gas and renewables industries in the North and South American markets.

As a Business Development Manager, your function is key to securing a contract with a client. What is the first step in the business development and sales process?

In order to add the most value to our clients, early engagement is key – often three to five years ahead of winning a contract. Our acquisition methods vary; sometimes we use our excellent Market Intelligence Manager who always has a pulse on what is on the horizon. But, more often than not, acquisition involves maintaining consistent contact with our client base to find out what they are working on. We then research which projects are the right fit for our portfolio.

And what happens when Jumbo’s portfolio matches the client’s needs?

Under normal circumstances, we are already speaking with our clients prior to an Invitation to Tender, the ITT. In doing so, clients can see what options they have to determine their contracting and bidding strategy. But more importantly, our in-house project management and engineering teams can already start giving guidance on methodology and advice on final design of the project materials and equipment including installation aids. Once the ITT is issued, we prepare our proposal and then begin the negotiation process with the client.

Looking at your LinkedIn profile, we see that you worked for some big EPC companies before joining Jumbo in 2021. What makes Jumbo Offshore special?

When I worked at those EPC firms, I was able to wear many hats – from working closely with Legal and Compliance, Tendering, Supply Chain management with a specific focus on large subcontracts, to operations support. Having worked on ‘the other side of the table’, I see that Jumbo Offshore sets itself apart from the market for a variety of reasons. Our biggest asset is our people – the quality of our team, their dedication to the company and the projects. It is the in-house knowledge that impresses our clients. Secondly, our competitive advantage lies in the fact we offer what the market needs: Heavy Lift Transportation Vessels that can also act as Installation Vessels. The amount of heavy equipment we can transport and install makes us uniquely qualified. It eliminates the need for numerous support vessels and saves our clients critical time in their schedules, reducing risk, and finding them overall savings on their projects.

How do you see Jumbo’s position in the ever-growing offshore renewables markets?

For the global offshore wind industry, Jumbo Offshore has been a key player for quite some time in the fixed foundations market. Our track record for installing transition pieces dates back to 2010 and we continue to support with transition piece and secondary steel installations. However, looking at how the offshore wind market is developing, I think that Jumbo Offshore can make a major impact in the floating offshore wind market too.

Is this due to the similarities of mooring a floating offshore turbine and, for example, an FPU?

Exactly – the principles of mooring for oil and gas and floating wind are very similar; and Jumbo Offshore has a proven track record with installing various types of mooring systems for oil and gas clients. The main difference with oil and gas is the scale in which floating wind farms will have to be installed in order to reach the MW goals set by the developers. Where an FPSO or FPU would need one mooring system, a floating offshore wind farm would require a significant amount of mooring systems. And with Jumbo Offshore being able to transport and install multiple systems due to the large multi-level deck space on the vessels, we can install, in a significantly reduced amount of time, a greater quantity of mooring systems in comparison to the anchor handler market. You could say that this is our niche specialty – this is what will give clients and developers peace of mind.

Do you have a favourite project from your time with Jumbo?

My favourite Jumbo project so far has been the semi-submersible FPU installation in the Gulf of Mexico. Using our DP2 Heavy Lift Construction Vessel Fairplayer, we installed the mooring system in water depths of 1,250 metres. This project really showcased our capabilities of transporting and installing an entire mooring system with one vessel. We also provided our client the FPU tow-out, offshore position keeping and hook-up. All in all, a significant chartering and management effort.

As part of Jumbo Offshore’s global team, Alexandra works in multiple time zones; she spends her mornings in contact with her colleagues in the Netherlands, and turns her attention to the Americas in the afternoons. As the interview here above shows, the close contact that Jumbo Offshore generates with market stakeholders is crucial in providing its clients with tailor-made services. 

Stay tuned for the next Jumbo Offshore Insight which will take a closer look at Tender Management.