70 May 2015 - Business View Caribbean
a vision to be the regional leader in the sub-sea and
marine support industry.
The current company actually grew out of a firm called
Coastal Diving, which itself had been created by a
merger transaction during a recession in the 1980s.
It grew and progressed into the 1990s, but, upon hav-
ing a desire to get out of the business – but having
no immediate family members interested in becoming
involved – its owners sought out a buyer interested in
taking over the operation.
Upon doing so, the entity known as OTSL was founded
in Trinidad.
“Of course, our business is marine-oriented,” said Ian
Bertrand, now the company’s chief executive officer.
“A lot of our specs are in the marine business. We do
survey work, we do lots of inspection work, mainte-
nance offshore. We do a lot of pipeline work and a lot
of structural work, platforms and so forth.
“We limit ourselves to the Gulf of Paria (a shallow in-
land sea, comprising 3,000 square miles, between the
island of Trinidad and the east coast of Venezuela) be-
cause of our equipment size. The east coast requires
much heavier equipment and we only work on the east
coast, in the shallower regions.”
These days, the core competencies include diving ser-
vices, inspection and testing services, maintenance,
repair and stabilization services, remote operated ve-
hicle services, marine fabrication and welding, crane
barges, tugs, deep-sea and utility vessels, demolition
and salvage operations, corrosion engineering and
protection, concrete matting and manufacture and in-
stallation grouting solutions.
Bertrand said OTSL is able to deliver reliable, profes-
sional and dedicated industry leading techniques and
solutions, thanks primarily to its highly skilled and
qualified personnel, key strategic global alliances and
advanced technological equipment and machinery,
BEST PRACTICES IN BUSINESS
