New Wave Media

Allen Leatt has been appointed Chief Executive of the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA). He will be joining on October 1, 2015 from Subsea 7 where he has been Senior VP for Engineering and Project Management.

 

Allen has over 30 years’ international experience in the marine contracting business with companies including Subsea 7, Acergy and Technip. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a chartered engineer in the U.K.

 

Leatt’s appointment follows on the heels of IMCA’s announcement yesterday naming Richard Benzie as the successor for longtime Technical Director Jane Bugler who will retire at the end of September.

 

Leatt’s career in the marine industry began in 1978 when as a graduate engineer he qualified as a commercial air diver and has subsequently spent his entire professional career in the marine contracting business. His first appointment was with John Laing Construction as a Field Engineer. From there he moved to SubSea Offshore in 1982 working as Project Engineer/Project Manager on various offshore construction and IMR projects.

 

He was then with Technip for 15 years, latterly as Executive VP for the SURF Product Line responsible for the marine fleet, the flexible/umbilical manufacturing plants and corporate engineering. He played a senior role in the development of the integrated subsea construction business model through the heritage companies of Coflexip and Stena Offshore. He has been a director and the CEO of various subsidiary companies of large organisations, and in 2000 formed the robotics company Perry Slingsby Systems by merging Perry Tritech and Slingsby Engineering.

 

He moved on to Acergy (when it was still known as Stolt Offshore) in 2003, as Chief Technology Officer/ Senior VP Engineering with responsibility for engineering, supply chain management, R&D and the company’s fleet renewal programme. This saw him with responsibility for a major investment programme building five heavy construction vessels, including latterly the Seven Borealis.

 

The merger with Subsea 7 in 2011 saw him appointed Senior VP Engineering & Project Management, where his responsibilities embrace engineering, project management, project services and supply chain management – all topics of relevance to IMCA’s global membership. 

 

Allen was elected a Fellow of the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering in 2012. The Academy recognized his 30-year contribution to the oil and gas industry “as a renowned expert in the field of subsea engineering” with particular recognition for his work in subsea construction techniques, underwater robotics and the development of offshore construction vessels. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a member of the Smeatonian Society, and a chartered engineer in the U.K. 

 

He is a graduate of Aston University, which numbers him amongst “Aston’s 50 Greats,” and has an MBA from Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University.