Ceona, SURF contractor with heavy subsea construction capabilities, announce that John Smith, Chairman of the company’s board, has stepped down with immediate effect due to ill-health.

Smith has been involved in the oil and gas sector for more than 30 years and has been pivotal in overseeing the growth of Ceona since its inception in 2012, the company said.

Mark Preece, Ceona’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), said, “John has been with Ceona since we started down the path to building the Ceona Amazon and his expertise has been vital in supporting the company to grow into the international organisation that it is today.

“John is highly respected and everyone at Ceona is extremely sorry to see him leave. I would like to take this opportunity to thank John for the very significant contributions he has made to our organization.”

Smith, a chartered mechanical engineer with a degree from Glasgow University, worked for 20 years for engineering companies owned by Brown & Root and headed their Norwegian and Australian businesses.

After taking on responsibility for the organization’s subsea businesses, Smith led the strategic process that formed Subsea 7, serving as the inaugural CEO and on the Board of the company until June 2007 when he joined Clough as CEO. There, he led a successful turnaround before handing over to his successor and joining Ceona in the initial stages of its growth strategy.

Smith is a past president of International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA), the international marine contractors association and was also chairman of Benthic Geotech and Competentia.