HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwired - May 5, 2016) - Trelleborg has been awarded E&P Magazine's prestigious Special Meritorious Awards for Engineering Innovation (MEA) in two categories. SealWelding ™ Technology from Trelleborg Sealing Solutions won in the category of Marine Construction and Trelleborg's offshore operation won for its deployment of Firestop™ in the Floating Systems and Rigs Category. The MEA awards will be presented at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas. David Brown, Global Lead Group Director, Oil & Gas, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, says: "As a global leader in engineered solutions that seal, damp and protect, we are honored to have our SealWelding technology recognized for its revolutionary approach -- enabling seals to be welded in situ on an FPSO platform eliminates the need for the oil & gas vessel to disconnect and return to shore. Our customers can now realize enormous cost and time savings due to our engineered innovations." SealWelding is a technology that allows seals to be welded on an FPSO platform, eliminating the need for it to disconnect and return to shore. Manufactured from Trelleborg's well-established seal materials, this technology reduces the downtime and associated costs that come from maintaining an FPSO swivel stack. Hans Leo Hals, Managing Director for Trelleborg's offshore operation based in Norway, says: "Since everyone involved in offshore oil & gas production knows that MEA entries are judged on their game-changing significance, both technically and economically, we couldn't be more proud to have Firestop acknowledged for protecting floating systems and rigs. Providing fire safety for people, structures and equipment is something that we do and will continue to do through new innovations. Our Firestop solutions ensure the integrity of structures are maintained in the event of a fire by providing time to evacuate people, close down critical equipment and for responders to gain control of the fire and evacuate an area." Firestop™ is a rubber-based passive fire protection solution which can be customized to meet the demands of specific offshore oil and gas projects and installations. By using a layered construction, Firestop™ provides corrosion, thermal, fire and mechanical protection. An independent team of experts, including engineers and engineering managers from operating and consulting companies worldwide, judged the competition. The winners come from a varied range of disciplines in oil & gas exploration and production, solving many of the issues that posed barriers to efficient operations. Technological advances of the winners open new and better avenues to the critical challenges the industry faces. The awards were presented on Trelleborg's booth during the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas.