Reef subsea

COMPANY PROFILE

2014

Reef Subsea

+44 1642 704400 | www.reefsubsea.com

On top of the bottom line

Editorial: Colin Chinery

In a short time line, installation and trenching specialists Reef Subsea have won impressive contracts and a growing reputation in the offshore sector. “Our track record is fantastic,” says Chief Commercial Officer Daryl Lynch, “and we aim to become the sector’s partner of choice.”

Reef Subsea is the ocean bed innovator launched in a vertical take-off. Formed only two years ago, the cable laying and flexible product installation and trenching specialist is fast winning a reputation for innovative capabilities and rapid turnaround in major offshore projects.

In late spring this year the Teesside-headquartered business

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completed the L5 Sierra Pipeline, 96 kilometres off the coast of the Netherlands, deploying its state-ofthe-art Q1000 Jet Trencher from the Reef Despina construction support vessel.

And in September the Bøyla Development Project off the coast of Norway - awarded to Reef Subsea in quarter-three of 2013 - was

completed, as with L5 Sierra, ahead of the schedule set by the client.

“With the reputation we have won, we are now tendering more than at any time,” says Chief Commercial Officer, Daryl Lynch.

The Reef Subsea Group, operating from three core offices at Thornaby (Stockton-on-Tees), Aberdeen and Bergen, is part of HitecVision,

Reef Subsea Europe’s leading private equity investor focused on the upstream offshore oil and gas industry.

Headquartered in Stavanger, centre of the Norwegian oil and gas industry, HitecVision has invested in, acquired or established more than 150 companies including add-on acquisitions.

Reef Subsea - Lay & Trench Services - is one of three related but separate and distinct companies within the Reef Group – alongside X-Subsea (Dredging and Excavation) and Technocean Subsea (IMR and Light Construction Services).

EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE “It’s this restructure which enables the business to deliver exceptional service for clients, utilising niche and specific skill sets alongside our own range of sophisticated vessels and technically advanced subsea assets,” says Lynch.

“We launched off the back of completing the very successful

Greater Gabbard scope involving the installation and burial of 41 array cables in simultaneous lay and burial mode.” The commission included project and engineering management onshore and offshore, load-out of the cable, pull-ins and temporary hang-offs “It set down Reef Subsea’s credentials as a leading supplier with a speciality in the installation of flexible products and the capability of burying flexible products put down by ourselves or third parties. Since then we have grown to 120 employees, and we areon the way to securing some pretty significant contracts.”

One of these major contracts, for a Permanent Reservoir Monitoring (PRM) System, was awarded by Statoil for its Grane oil field off the Norwegian coast, where 700 kms of seismic cables are being placed in seabed trenches.

The scope also includes the full project management and engineering, mobilisation/demobilisation,

installation of riser and backbone, material supply and logistics.

“This is another prestigious commission. Not many other companies have done PRM scopes with a plough, and to have this in our track record is fantastic. We are now using our engineering project management skill set to the full.

“These are exciting times for Reef Subsea. As a result of the group splitting into its respective individual companies, we can each tailor our offerings more closely to the requirements of our clients’ projects and really focus on individual areas of expertise. And this will lead to us becoming even more solutions-driven in what is a demanding and complex marketplace.”

EXPECTATIONS EXCEEDED Reef Subsea delivers each project with a single overriding aim - to exceed client expectations. “We go all out to ensure our equipment will provide a safe and effective solution

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Professional offshore personnel worldwide

James Fisher Rumic Fisher House PO Box 4 Barrow-in-Furness Cumbria LA14 1HR United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 1229 615456 Fax: +44 (0) 1229 836761 rumic.co.uk for our clients projects, with the most appropriate fleet and equipment used for every task. Not only that, but Reef Subsea has the capability to source project-specific vessels from the wider market.”

Among its leading edge assets are the Q1000 Jet Trenching ROV, embracing the latest technologies in jet trenching and ROV design, and the Heavy Duty Inter Array

ROV design; 750kW of total installed power and 700kW of variable jetting power, capable of trenching pipelines, umbilicals and cables up to three metres depth.

The proven design has been upgraded, based on Reef Subsea’s specific requirement to operate in varying sands and clays, with detailed engineering ensuring bespoke configuration for optimal

(HDIA) Cable Plough from subsea equipment manufacturer SMD, for the simultaneous or post-lay burial of large bend radius products.

Reef Subsea’s Q1000 Jet Trenching ROV embraces the latest technologies in jet trenching and

performance.

“We have introduced assets to the market that are not commercially led but technically led. And we were the first to build a plough dedicated to inter-array cables. Up to this point many operators were using old fibre

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optic cable ploughs and modifying them to complete scopes of work.

And these had the potential to damage cables and give the plough a bad reputation.

“So we brought the right technology into the market. And the Q1000 has been involved in three projects very successfully, with a technology ensuring all the power is going through the swords.

“A lot of people talk about the power of their jetter, but an awful lot of power is being wasted in driving the vehicle itself, the swords are where you need the energy for the burial.”

The Heavy Duty Inter Array (HDIA) Cable Plough provides the ideal solution for simultaneous or post-lay burial of large bend radius products.

The plough is a proven design, capable of providing the safe simultaneous or post-lay burial of submarine cables and flexible products in consolidated soils, including stiff clays.

The ‘multi-depth’ feature enables the plough to provide trench depths from shallow 1.5m to deep 2.4m and by maintaining a low bell mouth and tow point position giving better stability. “In terms of our trenching assets the Q1000 and the HDIA plough are the flagships of the fleet,” says Lynch.

PROTECTING THE BOTTOM LINE Reef Subsea’s core focus is summarised in its strap line - ‘Protecting the Bottom Line’ preserving the seabed while delivering specialist projects on time and within budget “Our experienced onshore and offshore teams are involved throughout the lifecycle of every project, from front-end engineering and detailed design to completion of offshore subsea operations. This is

Reef Subsea a key competency of the business, and one that sets us aside from competitor companies.”

With an emphasis on identifying practical engineering and technical solutions for its client base, Reef Subsea’s vision says Lynch, is to be the leading subsea services partner to energy and construction companies worldwide; the name most recognised for passion, presence and performance.

“With the reputation we have built, we are now pre-qualified and tendering more than at any previous time. Looking to the future we certainly have ambitions to complete scopes in more European wind farms, and expanding our North Sea trenching and laying operations into Norway. At the moment we are taking one step at a time and are focused on Europe. We will take the world on when it comes.

“We are competing with people

who have been around a long time of course. But the way we approach and complete projects is winning a growing reputation, and if you look at the length of our establishment we are extremely well placed for the

“Not many other companies have done PRM scopes, and to have this in our track record is fantastic” future.

“I believe Reef Subsea is now in the optimal position to continue working towards our ambitions of continuing growth and development. Our vision?

To become the subsea partner of choice in our industry.”

A&P

TM

Marine

Fabrication:

Ship Repair Ship Conversion Vessel Mobilisation / Demobilisation Ship Refits Offsite Teams

Subsea & Floating Structures Topside Modules Accomodation Blocks Pressure Vessels Wave & Tidal Devices Substations

SPECIALISTS IN SHIP REPAIR, CONVERSION & LARGE SCALE FABRICATION PROJECTS FOR THE MARINE, OIL & GAS AND RENEWABLE SECTORS

Contact: www.ap-group.co.uk | T: +44 (0) 845 274 7687 PAGE 65

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