History of SBMA

From 1862…

The history of SBM Atlantia begins in 2001, but the legacy of our parent, SBM Offshore N.V., reaches back to Holland in 1862 and the A.F. Smulders Machine Factory, and 1905 with the opening of the Gusto Shipyard in Schiedam.

… to the 1960s…

Born out of the formal collaboration of a number of Dutch shipyards in 1965 listed as IHC Holland on the Amsterdam stock exchange, Single Buoy Moorings, Inc., known as SBM, was created as a separate company in 1969. Its charter was to market and further develop the single point mooring systems, initially developed and constructed by Gusto under a license agreement with Shell.

…to the 1970s…

After the closure of the Gusto shipyard in the 1970’s, the decision was made to retain the engineering know-how and captive experience of the company. When Gusto Engineering was created, some of the company’s original engineers opted to form another independent company under the name Marine Structure Consultants (MSC).

…to the 1980s…

In 1984, IHC Inter Holding N.V. and Caland Holdings N.V. merged to become IHC Caland N.V. (the “Group”), bringing together dredger and specialized shipbuilding yards with the offshore activities of SBM and IHC Gusto Engineering. Four years later, the MSC engineers rejoined their colleagues.

As SBM’s product line expanded toward more complex mooring systems for floating storage and offloading systems (FSOs) and floating production, storage and offloading systems (FPSOs), the company grew into a market leader. The development of additional engineering capabilities to accommodate oil processing facilities on decks of permanently moored tankers enabled SBM to offer the full scope of FPSO supply and operations on a sale or lease basis. SBM was, in fact, the first contractor to invest in an FPSO under a lease-operate contract with an oil major. This activity has since become the largest business element of the SBM group’s profile.

…to the 1990s…

In 1990, IHC Caland acquired the California-based company, Imodco, SBM’s largest competitor in the supply of single point mooring systems. In 2000, the company moved its business operations to Houston under the name SBM-Imodco.

… to 2001 and SBM Atlantia is born.

In 2001, the Group acquired Atlantia Offshore, which specialized in the design and construction of tension leg platforms (TLPs). This strategic move successfully complemented the Group’s range of products while providing all the building blocks for large deepwater oil and gas developments.

After the market downturn in the specialized shipbuilding market post-2000 required the closure of one of the Group’s primary shipyards in 2003, and the financial imbalance and lack of synergy between shipbuilding and offshore oil and gas-related activities within the Company, the remaining yards were sold. With the conclusion of the transaction in early 2005, IHC Caland was formally renamed SBM Offshore N.V.