New Industry Role for Harkand’s ROV Manager

Harkand’s global head of remotely operated vehicles (ROV) has been announced as the new vice chairman of a global offshore, marine and underwater engineering trade association’s ROV committee.

David Rhodes has been voted in by fellow members of the International Marine Contractors Association’s (IMCA) Remote Systems and ROV Division Management Committee.

The committee is one of the association’s technical groups committed to the promotion of good working practices in the areas of health, safety, the environment, quality and efficiency, as well as giving technical guidance.

This is the first time an employee from inspection, repair, maintenance, (IRM), and light construction company Harkand has been elevated to such a position within the industry body.

With a career spanning 31 years in the IRM business, Rhodes has been Harkand’s IMCA representative since 2003. He said, “Being selected by the committee for this role is a big compliment. At Harkand we strive to ensure that by working closely with our clients, we deliver the best working practices and add real value to projects through robust project management coupled with the skills and expertise we have in-house.

“As IMCA’s prime function is to improve the offshore, marine and underwater engineering industry in terms of guidance and influencing regulations to make the working environment better for everyone involved, I feel honored to be voted in and to be more involved in this integral part of this process.”

IMCA chief executive Chris Charman said, “Our Remote Systems & ROV Division focuses on all aspects of equipment, personnel and operations relating to remotely operated systems used in support of marine activities, David will obviously be playing a key role that has global ramifications and reach, IMCA has over a thousand members in more than 60 countries. As marine operations move to ever greater water depths, this division assumes increasing importance within IMCA, and we welcome him to this role.

“Remote Systems & ROV Division members use remotely operated systems to perform tasks such as drill support; subsea construction; inspecting pipelines, structures and cables; operating and maintaining valves and other moving parts on subsea manifolds; trenching for submarine cables and pipelines; seabed surveys; inspection and maintenance of platforms; and enabling video observation of both divers and underwater equipment.”