Subsea & Offshore Service Magazine February 2017

February 2017 Issue

Subsea Expo 2017 Preview | Decommissioning & Abandonment ROV’s, AUV’s, Cameras & Lights Underwater Inspection

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February 2017

edi to r s let t er Welcome to the February issue of Subsea & Offshore Service Magazine, the monthly trade journal delivering extensive coverage of the offshore Industries worldwide.

Contents

With Subsea Expo 2017 just around the corner, we have included within this issue a preview about the event whilst highlighting a handful of companies that have signed up to exhibit their products and services there (p22). We thank everyone for their contributions and hard work in getting this issue together.

W ithin this i s s u e i nd ustry OUT LOOK

6

ne w s i n b r i e f

8

i nd u stry ne w s

10

su b se a e x po 2 0 1 7 pr e vi e w

22

D e c o m m i ssi o ni ng & A b and o nm e nt

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rov’ s/ au v’ s/ l i ght s & c am e r as

32

u nd e rwat e r i nspe c ti o n

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T e c h SPOT LIGHT

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We open this month’s edition with a summary of a new report published by Allied Market Research. The report suggests that the global Offshore Mooring market’s valuation is projected to reach $1,408 million by 2022 (p6).

Andreas Boenisch of Innospection reviews the challenges faced by divers when carrying out underwater inspection missions.

To counter these, Innospection has developed and launched a series of smart multi-function MEC-Combi inspection tools. Find out more about these on (p38).

Coming up in the next issue, we will be taking an in-depth look at each of the following market sectors: Lifting Equipment & Deck Machinery, Offshore Safety & Protective Clothing, Sealing Solutions & Gaskets, Flow Measurement and Training & Development.

If you would like your company to be noticed within any of these features, please send us your latest news releases to editor@sosmagazine.biz. Our Publication Manager, Jon McIntosh is on hand to help out with your advertising requirements for 2017. jon@sosmagazine.biz Thanks for reading!

David Sullivan - Editor Editor: David Sullivan

Publication Manager: Jon McIntosh

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February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p5

UTLOOK Offshore Mooring Market Expected to Reach $1,408 Million by 2022, Globally—Allied Market Research According to a new report published

by Allied Market Research, titled, “Offshore Mooring Market by mooring type, application and anchorage - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014–2022,” the global offshore mooring market was valued at $1,037 million in 2015, and is projected to reach $1,408 million by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 5.0% from 2016 to 2022. The spread segment dominated this market, occupying more than one-fourth of the total share of the market revenue in 2015.

Summary of the Offshore Mooring Market at: www.alliedmarketresearch.com/ offshore-mooring-market The offshore mooring market is expected to witness significant growth over next six years, owing to increased demand for energy due to extensive subsea exploration and production. The other factors driving the offshore mooring market are maturity of onshore oil & gas fields, rise in offshore field exploration, emergence of FPSO technology, growing importance of new clean electricity, and heavy investments from the Middle East and Latin America to develop infrastructure.

However, factors such as high initial CAPEX and harsh deep sea environmental conditions hamper the growth of the market.

According to Eswara Prasad (Team Lead, Chemical & Materials) at Allied Market Research, “The taut leg segment is expected to witness the highest growth during the forecast period, owing to increasing need for taut and catenary lines both for offshore mooring across the globe.”

The report segments the world offshore mooring market on the basis of application, anchorage, mooring type, p6 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

and geography. By application, the market is subsegmented into floating production storage & offloading (FPSO) vessels, floating drilling production storage & offloading (FDPSO) vessels, floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessels, tension leg platform (TLP), SPAR platforms, semi-submersibles, and others (conductor support systems, fixed platform and compliant towers).

Based on anchor, the market is divided into drag embedment anchors, suction anchors, and vertical load anchors. On the basis of mooring type segment, the market is subsegmented into catenary mooring, taut leg mooring, semi-taut mooring, spread mooring, single point mooring, and dynamic positioning mooring system.

By geography, it is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Key findings of the study • The FPSO segment is anticipated to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period.

• North America is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.4%, in terms of revenue.

Image courtesy of Noble Seillean www.en.wikipedia. org/wiki/FPSO_ Noble_Seillean# External_links

• The U.S. occupied for more than two-thirds share of the North American offshore mooring market in 2015.

• The Rest of Asia-Pacific region is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR of 5.3%, in terms of revenue.

• The FLNG segment is expected to witness significant growth in the AsiaPacific region.

The Asia-Pacific region accounted for the largest share in the global market, while the European region is expected to account for the second largest share due to increasing investments in ports as well as increasing innovations in offshore mooring technologies.

The key players operating in the global offshore mooring market have focused on acquiring local players to strengthen their market outreach and expand their customer base. The prominent players profiled in the report are Viking Sea Tech, Intermoor, Inc., Baltec Systems Pvt. Ltd., Delmar Systems, KTL Offshore Pte Ltd., MODEC, Inc., Mampaey Offshore Industries B.V., Mooring Systems Inc., SBM Offshore N.V., and BW Offshore Ltd.

Industry news

Global Marine Secures Extension with Atlantic Cable Maintenance Agreement Global Marine Systems has been awarded the renewal of the Atlantic Cable Maintenance Agreement (ACMA), alongside its Atlantic partner for maintenance services, Orange Marine.

The new contract began on January 1, 2017, and runs for five years, through to December 2021.

ACMA is a non-profit cooperative subsea maintenance agreement consisting of 60+ members. ACMA members are companies responsible for the operations and maintenance of undersea communications and power cables, as well as Oil & Gas Platform operators, in the Atlantic, North Sea and South Eastern Pacific Ocean.

and consumers alike, and Global Marine is proud to again be of service to maintain these vital connections.”

Alasdair Wilkie, ACMA Chairman, said: “We trust the Global Marine and Orange Marine solution. Over decades, the two companies have repeatedly demonstrated their pedigree and experience in this highly specialised area.”

Below: Global Marine Secures Extension with Atlantic Cable Maintenance Agreement.

Global Marine’s maintenance vessels, the Wave Sentinel and Pacific Guardian, will be servicing ACMA17 from their bases in Portland, UK and Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles.

“We appreciate the confidence placed in us by the Atlantic Cable Maintenance Agreement members and look forward to ensuring that their cables are effectively protected,” said John Walters, maintenance director, Global Marine. “The resilience of communication networks throughout the Atlantic and Western South America is critically important to companies

February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p7

ACE Winches celebrates a five star grading in the British Safety Council’s Five Star Occupational Health and Safety Audit ACE Winches is pleased to announce it has achieved a five star grading from its Five Star Occupational Health and Safety Audit conducted by the British Safety Council.

ACE Winches underwent a detailed, quantified and objective evaluation of our occupational health and safety management system.

Nortech establishes joint venture in Abu Dhabi after successful market entry Nortech Group has established a new Joint Venture Company in Abu Dhabi to further grow its presence in the United Arab Emirates and the wider Middle East.

Al Dhabi Nortech Engineering Consultancy LLC is a joint venture between Nortech and leading Middle East contracting company, Dhabi Contracting LLC and builds on the Dhabi Nortech brand the companies founded in 2015.

Among the recruits is a new Regional Business Development Manager for the Middle East, Tom Milburn, who will drive future growth of the JV building on Dhabi Nortech’s initial successes in the region.

Bryan Bunn, Managing Director of the Nortech Group, said: “Founding this Joint Venture approach is a significant step towards establishing a strong presence for Nortech in the UAE market. The initial success we have achieved by securing and delivering projects for such a prestigious company as GASCO demonstrates there is a market for our niche services, which we will develop alongside our partner, Dhabi Contracting.”

He added: “Combining our expertise in engineering design and management consultancy with Dhabi Contracting’s experience in civil engineering and electro-mechanical engineering will meet the requirements of evolving UAE and Middle East industries and companies operating in markets such as oil & gas and chemical processing.”

Sami Edwards, General Manager of Dhabi Contracting, said: “The approach Dhabi Nortech has brought to the UAE has proven to be effective and establishing this JV is the natural next step to deliver further growth in the market.

The UK expertise Nortech brings to this enterprise, alongside our extensive experience, will ensure that customers across the region will benefit from our specialist technical services.” p8 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

The audit measured our performance against a number of key safety management indicators and achieved the highest rating.

The British Safety Council’s Five Star Occupational Health and Safety Audit provides organisations with a worldwide benchmark of their safety management systems against current best practice to enable continual improvement. The Audit specification was revised in 2013 to include performance measurements in two additional safety management indicators (Leadership and Continuous Improvement) which are continually assessed, alongside other indicators, throughout the audit process.

Within the revised audit, the British Safety Council has placed a greater emphasis on the organisation’s approach to occupational health, employee wellbeing, safety culture, allocation of resources to health and safety and planning for change; all of which are considered important best practice factors.

Richard Wilson, Chief Operations Officer at ACE Winches said: “We’re delighted to receive the accolade, which reflects our dedication to the health and safety of our staff and clients, it is a testimony to how we use ACE Focus to inspire our people to continuously improve in key areas of the business. This award helps us to demonstrate to staff and customers our commitment to achieving and delivering world-class standards.”

He continued: “HSEQ is a one of the company’s core values and forms an integral part of our business strategy. HSEQ is paramount at ACE Winches and is at the heart of our business objectives.”

Controlled bolting specialist HTL Group opens its doors to impressive new facility HTL Group Scotland opens its doors to showcase their full suite of capabilities with an open day on Thursday 2nd February 2017 at Raith’s Industrial Estate, Dyce, Aberdeen.

The event will run from 10am – 3pm and is set to highlight HTL Group Scotland as the hub to deliver the Group’s comprehensive capabilities in Scotland. An exclusive tour of the new facility, demonstrations of HTL’s core OEM product range and Joint Integrity Software in addition to a sneak peak of the all new HTL Expo Vehicle all form part of the busy agenda for the day along with Q & A sessions with the HTL Team.

Marc Gerrard, Business Manager, HTL Group Scotland comments: “The open day is the ideal opportunity for us to demonstrate the Group’s full suite of premium quality solutions including: OEM Controlled Bolting and Ancillary Products, Approved Training, Hydraulic Pressure Testing, Flushing and Control Systems, Asset Management, Site Based Solutions and Engineered to Order Bespoke Design Solutions.

At HTL, we continuously strive for excellence and enjoy working closely with our clients to understand the industries they serve, we consequently operate an open door policy at all HTL facilities and would like to welcome anyone to visit at their convenience during 2017.”

The open day is now open for registration and is planned to be one in a series of open door facility visits over 2017. If you would like to register for the official open day on 2nd February or arrange a visit for an alternative time, please contact:

aberdeen@htlgroup.com or call: +44 (0) 1224 728 820

First Rigs to Arrive for Decommissioning in Great Yarmouth The Veolia-Peterson partnership has been awarded two platform decommissioning contracts for recycling at their facility in Great Yarmouth. With an aim of reaching 96% recycling rates the work to recycle materials and assets is expected to begin in spring 2017 when the platforms arrive onshore.

Seatronics announce new partnership agreement with Force Technology Seatronics, an Acteon company and global leaders in the rental and sale of marine electronic equipment, has formed a new partnership agreement with Force Technology, an international technological consultancy company.

The new agreement will provide Seatronics’ global customer base with access to Force Technology’s Field Gradient Sensor (FiGS) system. FiGS is a non-contact CP inspection tool, and the only tool on the market of its kind. The FiGS system offers a step change in CP integrity as it detects coating damages on exposed and buried pipelines and structures, accurately measures anode performance and helps optimise CP retrofitting. The beneficial features of the FiGS offers substantial cost savings for the client as well as reducing inspection time.

Phil Middleton, Group Managing Director, Seatronics, said: “We are delighted to have partnered with Force Technology and the FiGS system is a product which we are genuinely excited about.

“Seatronics has always been synonymous with the latest innovative technology and we are actively developing our portfolio of equipment, which can assist our clients in assessing the long term integrity of their assets. We feel the FiGS system is unmatched in this respect and look forward to working with Leiv and his team.”

Leiv Laate, Vice President, Force Technology, added: “We are happy to partner up with Seatronics, a leading player in the market, and we look forward to fruitful co-operation for years to come.”

The FiGS system will be available for rental throughout Seatronics’ global bases in Aberdeen, Houston, Singapore and Abu Dhabi.

The contracts include the onshore receipt and disposal of offshore materials and several assets for a major gas producer. The work will cover disposal options for a number of production complex platforms, and surrounding satellite platforms, located around 40 miles off the coast of Great Yarmouth. Recycling is expected to start this year and will take around four years to complete.

Recovering these platforms at the end of their operational life is essential. Now using the new facilities the valuable materials that they contain can be carefully captured and returned to industry for re-use, and where possible assets that have further operational life can be sold. This, in turn, helps boost the sustainability of the industry and becomes part of the circular economy.

Formalised in 2015 Veolia-Peterson is a joint venture that has been providing onshore decommissioning services for over 10 years.

Set up to cover the full decommissioning of platforms the services include decontamination, deconstruction, waste management and environmental services together with associated integrated logistics, marine and quayside services.

To date the joint venture has recovered over 80,000 tonnes of offshore materials and achieved ‘excellent’ environmental assessment ratings in the process.

Developed as part of the partnership between Peterson and Veolia, and supported by Peel Ports Great Yarmouth, Local Enterprise Partnership, Great Yarmouth Borough Council and Norfolk County Council the new decommissioning site at Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour has been selected to receive the structures. The new works will help create approximately 10 new jobs for Veolia Peterson, with further development and employment as the projects develop.

The partnership’s aim is to establish Great Yarmouth as the SNS centre for decommissioning, and to further expand the facilities to meet the growing need for this type of decommissioning.

RGU spin-out shortlisted in prestigious Offshore Achievement Awards Robert Gordon University (RGU) spin-out company, PlanSea, has been shortlisted in the 2017 SPE Aberdeen Offshore Achievement Awards (OAA) ‘Emerging Technology’ category.

PlanSea, which offers operational management control, fleet optimisation and vessel scheduling software for the offshore oil and gas marine support sector, has been shortlisted for its ground-breaking optimisation and efficiency software.

The software uses advanced algorithms to optimise vessel utilisation while still meeting all operational objectives and capturing all of the constraints and delays that make offshore logistics such a complex task.

It is thought that this could enable annual savings of over a hundred million pounds in the UKCS alone, where well over a hundred platform supply vessels (PSVs) operate.

The SPE Aberdeen Offshore Achievement Awards (OAA) is the biggest and longest established industry awards for the UK offshore energy sector, covering all aspects from supply to upstream operations and offshore renewables.

For over thirty years, the awards have been celebrating and encouraging innovation and collaboration in the North Sea. The ‘Emerging Technology’ award, which PlanSea has been shortlisted for, aims to identify and recognise innovative new technology ideas developed in the UK for the offshore energy sector Professor John McCall, PlanSea Co-Founder and Director of RGU’s Smart Data Technologies Centre, added: “It is immensely rewarding to see our algorithms having a positive impact on Aberdeen’s leading industry.”

OPEC and friends agree on way to monitor oil cuts to end glut OPEC and other oil producers agreed on a way to monitor their compliance with last month’s historic supply deal, putting global markets on track to re-balance after more than two years of oversupply.

The countries have already cut oil supply by 1.5 million barrels a day, more than 80% of their collective target, since the deal took effect on Jan. 1, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy and Industry Khalid Al-Falih told reporters in Vienna.

“Compliance is great — it’s been really fantastic,” Al-Falih said Sunday. “Based on everything I know, I think it’s been one of the best agreements we’ve had for a long time.”

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Algeria and Venezuela met counterparts from non-OPEC nations Russia and Oman to find a way to verify that the 24 signatories to their Dec. 10 accord are fulfilling pledges to remove a combined 1.8 million barrels a day from the market for six months. They intended to prove the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is serious about eliminating a global glut and dispel skepticism stemming from previous unfulfilled promises.

Monitoring Mechanism Kuwaiti Oil Minister Essam Al-Marzouk, who chairs the five-member monitoring committee, emerged smiling from the hour-long meeting with a message of success: oil producers were in “total agreement” on the monitoring mechanism and wouldn’t accept anything less than 100% compliance with the cuts.

The committee, comprising ministers from Kuwait, Russia, Algeria, Venezuela and Oman, will meet next on March 17 in Kuwait and again in May. OPEC’s secretariat will present it with a report on the 17th day of each month, the group said in a statement. A technical group, consisting of delegates from each of the five committee members along with OPEC president Saudi Arabia, will meet each month to prepare the report.

The monitoring committee will assess data submitted by each producer country, p10 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

along with information from agencies such as IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, Argus Media Ltd. and the International Energy Agency, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. The committee will evaluate compliance with production targets only, though the technical group may also look at export data to support its analysis, Novak said.

Secondary Sources Oil prices rose to an 18-month high of more than $58 a barrel after OPEC and several non-members agreed to end two years of unfettered production and instead cut output.

Crude has since slipped about 5% from that peak as traders await proof that they will follow through.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has already exceeded its target with an output reduction of more than 500,000 barrels a day, Al-Falih said, while Algeria and Kuwait have also cut to levels beyond their targets, according to ministers from those nations.

Other OPEC members such as Iraq and Venezuela have not yet reached their quotas but say they are more than half-way there.

Al-Falih said he hoped all countries would reach full compliance with the deal next month and forecast that brimming global stockpiles of crude oil would return to normal levels by the middle of the year. The agreement expires at the end of June, though producers will discuss in May whether to extend it, Kuwait’s Al-Marzouk said.

Russia has pared production by an average of 100,000 barrels a day, a milestone it hadn’t expected to reach until next month, Novak said. The largest producer involved in the agreement said it would make a daily reduction of 300,000 barrels by April or May. OPEC’s production fell by 220,900 barrels a day to 33.085 million a day in December, led by declines in Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, according to secondary sources data in the group’s monthly report published Jan. 18.

The organization agreed to reduce its output to 32.5 million barrels a day, although that total included about 740,000 barrels a day from former member Indonesia.

Asia’s unquenchable thirst for oil to outpace 2017 refining growth Asia is gearing up to witness new refining capacity growth in at least four countries in 2017, but capacity reductions in some top consuming nations will pull down the net addition to a level that would be lower than the anticipated demand growth the region is likely to see this year.

While China, India, Taiwan and Vietnam are expected to add to their refining capacities this year, Japan will witness closures, while some independent refiners in China might be forced to give up capacity, analysts and market participants told S&P Global Platts.

“Oil demand growth in the Asian region is expected to exceed the net refining additions this year,” said Sri Paravaikkarasu, Head of Oil, East of Suez, at Facts Global Energy.

“And looking at the next five-year horizon, oil products demand growth should exceed net refining additions every single year, helping to clear product surplus somewhat.”

Growth in India is set to be one of the strongest, with the rise in oil demand expected to outpace that of China’s for the third year in a row this year, according to Platts Analytics. Indian demand is expected to grow by 7% year on year to 4.13 million b/d in 2017, while China’s oil consumption is expected to rise by only 3% to 11.5 million b/d in the same period.

Looking at the overall oil products demand, FGE expects Asia’s oil products demand to grow by 950,000 b/d in 2017, while Wood Mackenzie expects demand to grow by about 660,000 b/d in the same period.

“We expect a net capacity addition of 430,000 b/d in Asia Pacific for 2017.

Oil products demand is expected to grow by 660,000 b/d in 2017. So demand growth will outpace capacity growth in Asia in 2017,” Suresh Sivanandam, Senior Research Manager, Refining and Chemicals, at Wood Mackenzie, told Platts.

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Industry news

Proserv and SapuraKencana join forces in Asia Pacific Proserv and SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad’s whollyowned subsidiary, SapuraKencana Technology Sdn Bhd (SK Technology) are joining forces to provide enhanced technology services to clients in Asia Pacific.

Both companies will be leveraging on their respective regionally-based assets, expertise, technology and infrastructure to offer clients a variety of innovative solutions.

They will jointly provide a range of services across the drilling, production and decommissioning market sectors with a strong focus on subsea production and subsea maintenance services.

The partnership will leverage on mutual strengths - Proserv’s suite of advanced subsea production equipment and controls and SK Technology’s technical support, resources and assets - to better support and enhance client projects.

David Lamont, Chief Executive Officer at Proserv, said:

We’re partnering with a company that is wellrespected throughout Asia Pacific that shares our values and commitment to service excellence.

p12 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

Our specialist capabilities complement SapuraKencana Petroleum’s diverse range of services, allowing us to further enhance our offering to clients particularly in the subsea services sector, whilst continuing to grow our presence in Malaysia and throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Proserv is a technology services company first and foremost and this partnership firmly underlines our commitment to clients in the region through the delivery of highly reliable, efficient and competitive technology solutions.

subsea projects, in particular facility optimization, to extend lifespan of fields, services and support.

The partnership is a boost to clients to find smarter ways to navigate through the current changing oil and gas global environment with solutions to improve efficiency and asset obsolescence management.

Vivek Arora, Senior Vice President of Business Acquisition of SapuraKencana Petroleum, said:

The partnership with Proserv allows SapuraKencana Petroleum Group to strengthen the diversity of its range of services to clients in particular in our operations and maintenance services business.

We can now provide clients with more technical expertise and resources to support a range of

In these pictures: Proserv and SK Technology are to provide clients with enhanced technology services across Asia Pacific.

Industry news

Xodus wins subsea contract with Apache Xodus Group has recently won a contract with North Sea operator Apache to deliver subsea engineering services for two new infill well developments at the Nevis and Skene fields in the Northern North Sea.

the University of Dundee have been undertaking a project to investigate the recovery loads of skirted subsea structures on a soft clay seabed. The first phase of modelling testing has recently been completed with a second phase to be completed this year.

The project includes a novel idea of designing and fabricating spools with no requirement for metrology focusing on time and effort savings. The latest win follows a number of successful projects delivered for the operator over the last 18 months, including the concept, Front End Engineering Design (FEED) and detailed design studies for the Beryl field’s Far North Triassic (FNT) subsea tie-back, which was 4km in length.

Aberdeen headquartered Xodus Group offers engineering and advisory support for oil and gas upstream operators worldwide from conceptual studies, FEED and detailed design into operation and through to life extension and decommissioning.

This consisted of a production flexible, gas lift flexible and an electro-hydraulic controls (EHC) umbilical tied back to the Beryl Bravo platform. In addition to performing the detailed design, Xodus also package managed the delivery of the production flexible on behalf of Apache and helped the operator to a chieve first oil just 11 months after drilling the well, ahead of schedule and over 30% under budget.

Andrew Wylie (pictured below), Scotland Subsea & Pipelines Manager at Xodus believes the strong working relationship with Apache is delivering results. He said: “We are looking forward to supporting the Nevis and Skene developments. The new approach to the design of spools is one example of how we are challenging the norm and doing things differently. We are involved with Apache in the very early stages of a project and they give us the freedom to think about the challenge so that we can focus on finding the best and most efficient solution. Apache and Xodus have similar cultures embedded within their teams, which allows us to add technical value and deliver cost savings.”

Apache entered the North Sea in 2003 and has an interest in approximately 400,000 gross acres in the U.K. North Sea. Patrick Duggan, Subsea Projects Manager of Apache added: “We are pleased to continue to build on our relationship with Xodus to progress our planned infill well programme,which will bring additional North Sea production to our portfolio.”

Xodus will be presenting at Subsea Expo in Aberdeen on 1st February 2017 on: ‘Recovery loads of skirted subsea structures on a soft clay seabed.’

Within the context of an increasing requirement to consider detailed engineering for decommissioning projects, Xodus along with funding partner OGIC (Oil and Gas Innovation Centre) and academic partner February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p13

Industry news

Halliburton enters technology agreement with Petrobrasaining programme Halliburton has announced a technology cooperation agreement with Petrobras (PBR) that will advance collaboration in a diverse set of projects targeting complex reservoirs such as deepwater pre-salt and mature fields.

The multi-year agreement will facilitate the development of innovative solutions in geophysics, drilling and completions, reservoir characterization, well testing, flow assurance and production. The project portfolio will focus on three main challenges: reducing well construction investment, long-term reservoir monitoring and increasing well productivity.

“Collaboration is a Halliburton strategic mainstay that drives our engagement with customers to develop new technologies,” said Francisco Tarazona, Vice President of Latin America.

“This agreement will enable experts from both companies to share knowledge and accelerate the development of tailored solutions.”

This is the second phase in the technology cooperation between Halliburton and Petrobras in Brazil.

During the first phase, which began in 2009, both companies collaborated on 11 projects. This work included pre-stack seismic attributes for carbonates, new algorithms for better estimation of fluid sampling contamination and a new cementing system for salt and CO2 environments.

The project collaboration uses Halliburton’s Brazil Technology Center in Rio de Janeiro. This facility is part of the company’s technological excellence network and is the first in the Southern Hemisphere. The network is composed of 15 centers located across the world including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, India, Belgium and Singapore.

p14 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

Honeywell and Aereon to leverage IIoT for oil and gas Honeywell and Aereon announced they will collaborate on solutions to help industrial customers boost the safety, efficiency and reliability of their operations by leveraging Honeywell’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) ecosystem.

“For years, manufacturers and producers have looked for ways to solve operational problems that were believed to be unsolvable - such as unplanned downtime, underperforming assets and inefficient supply chains,” said Andrew Hird, Vice President and General Manager of Honeywell Process Solutions’ Digital Transformation business. “With the capabilities of the IIoT, we can find new ways to solve those problems. A key part is the creation of an industrial ecosystem that leverages the depth of knowledge and experience of a range of equipment and service providers such as Aereon.”

The Inspire ecosystem is a key part of Honeywell’s Connected Plant initiative that helps manufacturers leverage the IIoT to improve the safety, efficiency and reliability of operations across a single plant or several plants across an enterprise.

Honeywell and its ecosystem partners are building a simple-to-use infrastructure that gives customers secure methods to capture and aggregate data, and apply advanced analytics. This infrastructure leverages domain knowledge from a vast and unique ecosystem of leading equipment vendors and process licensors, and allows customers to use this information to determine methods to reduce or even eliminate manufacturing upsets and inefficiencies.

With a larger, consolidated data set, manufacturers and producers can apply higher analytics for more detailed insight, scale the data as needed to meet the varied needs of single-site or enterprise-wide operations, and leverage a wider pool of data experts for monitoring and analysis.

New guidelines for the use of drones offshore A new publication to help guide the growing use offshore of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) - also known as drones - has been published by Oil & Gas UK. The Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Operations Management Standards and Guidelines were developed by a work group set up by the trade body, involving industry and aviation safety experts, plus UAS operators.

Mick Borwell, health, safety and environment director with Oil & Gas UK, explained: “A small but increasing number of oil and gas operators are using UAS for inspections predominantly, but also for aerial photography, surveying and security.

“The technology is particularly attractive for its use in improving safety.

For example, sending unmanned aircraft instead of people into confined spaces to conduct inspections reduces risk, and is also effective and efficient.

We expect their usage to grow.”

The new guidelines aim to achieve consistency with the high safety and operating standards already adopted on the UK Continental Shelf for offshore oil and gas production and helicopter flight operations.

“The intention is to encourage offshore operators planning on using this emerging technology to think about the whole operating and safety system offshore and not just the air vehicle,” said Mr Borwell.

“The guidelines have evolved from lessons learned in recent years and provide information about best practice, procedures and the certification needed to be compliant with UAS regulations.

They are an important piece of work addressing the application of a new technology to the offshore environment which will help to ensure operations on the North Sea remain as safe as they can be.”

Industry news

February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p15

Industry news

Handelsbanken Banking Deals Supports Ecosse Subsea Services’ Expansion Plans Ecosse Subsea Services (ESS) has agreed a multi-million-pound revolving credit facility with full service bank Handelsbanken.

The new relationship will support the Banchory-based subsea engineering specialist as it tenders for larger renewables and power generation contracts.

With its roots in the oil and gas industry, ESS has led the way in adapting traditional technologies for use in the renewables and interconnector sectors and has designed and patented a range of tools which are used in seabed clearance, route preparation, trenching, backfill, pipelay removal and cable laying operations.

Banchory based ESS said it was responding to fresh opportunities to deploy its innovative technologies in emerging markets in the Baltic Sea, the Far East and USA, and forecast turnover in the current financial year will double to between £23-£25 million, with profits jumping to around £5 million.

complex subsea contracts, means we need a more rounded banking service. As we win larger contracts, our clients require us to have a more sophisticated banking facility and we are delighted to partner with Handelsbanken who have been supportive and flexible in their offering.”

The company said it was also encouraged by signs of recovery in the oil and gas sector and predicted that technologies developed by ESS for renewables projects would prove equally attractive for deployment on major oil and gas projects.

Steve Rae, Corporate Manager at Handelsbanken in Aberdeen, said: “We were very impressed with the Ecosse team and their business model and how they have successfully diversified from focussing mainly on oil and gas to strengthen their position in the renewable energy sector.

The company’s SCAR Seabed System has been deployed on a number of UK and European renewables projects, including Westermost Rough, Race Bank and Wikinger offshore wind farms and on cable trenching operations on a major interconnector programme in the Moray Firth.

“Both are key sectors for the Scottish and wider UK economy and we are delighted to provide the business with the banking facilities it required to support its growth plans.”

To sustain growth, ESS required a banking relationship which provided performance bonds and guarantees to its clients and Handelsbanken’s Aberdeen branch stepped in to offer full banking services, including a multi-million-pound revolving credit and bonds and guarantee facility.

ESS recently received an Engineering Excellence Award at the Scottish Green Energy Awards and has been supported by Scottish Enterprise and part funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds Programme to develop SCARJet, a water jetting tool which has the potential to double trench production rates in softer seabed trenching operations.

ESS Managing Director, Mike Wilson, said: “Until now Ecosse has been self-financing but our track-record for completing high-value and

Below: Handelsbanken Corporate Account Manager Steven Rae, ESS Managing Director Mike Wilson, ESS Operations Director Mo Petrie.

ADD ENERGY SCOOPS MAINTENANCE BUILD CONTRACT WITH BP KLPG Add Energy, the international oil and gas upstream consultancy provider, has been awarded a contract worth £200,000 for work on BP’s Kinneil Liquid Petroleum Gas (KLPG) Chilldown Project located at its Refrigerated Liquid Petroleum Gas (RLPG) site in Grangemouth.

The contract will see Add Energy carry out the provision of a full maintenance build for the new KLPG plant. The scope of work includes an asset register validation and technical hierarchy build, equipment criticality assignments, development of maintenance strategies, procedures and job plans and a critical spares optimisation and bill of materials (BOM) development.

Peter Adam, Executive Vice President, Add Energy commented: “We are delighted to have been selected for this project by BP. As maintenance and reliability specialists, we have access to a team of 50 people who are subject matter experts in their own discipline.

“We have built a global library of maintenance strategies based on best practice and reliability data, which combined with lessons learnt from previous maintenance build contracts will support and enhance this p16 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

project. Add Energy is focused on supporting operators in getting best value for money and will continue to optimise maintenance expenditure for BP. The RLPG plant at Grangemouth currently operates with R22, a colourless, refrigerant gas. EU legislation requires the replacement of R22 and R410a has been identified as a suitable more environmentally friendly and efficient alternative. Refrigeration is required to chill the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to enable storage and eventual transportation by ship to market. Without refrigeration, the Forties Pipeline System would be unable to operate.

Hook-up and commissioning of the plant is now well under way with the plant expected to be operational later this year.

Industry news

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February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p17

Industry news

CQI / IRCA Approved ISO 9001:2015 QMS Auditor/Lead Auditor Training Course This course is for practising and potential auditors of suppliers and subcontractors quality management systems.

Participants should have a basic understanding of audit principles and the ISO 9001:2015 Series standards.

As a result of attending you will be able to: • Describe the purpose of a quality management system and explain the 7 principles of quality management.

• Explain the purpose, content and interrelationship of ISO 9000, ISO 9001, ISO 9004 and ISO 19011.

• Interpret requirements of ISO 9001 in the context of an audit • Describe the roles and responsibilities of auditors and lead auditors.

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• Undertake audit follow-up activities, including evaluating the effectiveness of corrective action.

Key Topics • Quality Management Principles • Quality Management System

requirements • Types of audit • Planning audits, including checklist preparation • Carrying out audits, including opening and closing meetings

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Successful completion of the course fulfils the training requirements for registration of individual auditors under the IRCA Certification Scheme All QMI courses involve a high level of student participation. A full set of student notes will be provided. A Certificate of Successful Completion is awarded to those who satisfactorily complete the examination.

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Siemens Ghana launches oil and gas training programme Siemens Oil and Gas Limited, Ghana has launched an Oil and Gas sector training programme to help build local capacity in the energy sector as its commitment to assisting Ghana to meet her expanding energy needs.

The training programme, developed by Siemens Oil and Gas Equipment Ltd, together with its Joint Venture Partner Draper Oil and Gas, aims to deliver training to selected individuals with the purpose of helping to build Ghana’s human capital.

The nine month training programme, which commenced in October, 2016 is in collaboration with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Petroleum Commission (PC) and is set to be completed by June 2017.

The programme marks another firm commitment by Siemens to Ghana’s economic renaissance and satisfies requirements for Local Content Guidelines for the upstream oil and gas sector. p18 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

Altogether, 16 participants including three current employees of Siemens Oil and Gas Ltd with various specialties in engineering were shortlisted from the over 300 applications received from across the country.

“We firmly believe that sustainable business growth lies intrinsically in developing society. Beyond providing training for these young Ghanaian professionals, Siemens, in collaboration with its local partners in Oil and Gas, will offer additional employment to three outstanding participants in varied capacities after they complete,” he said.

Mr Acheampong said Ghana was one of Siemens’ key markets and “we want our people to know we are here to stay and contribute to the growth of the economy.”

Mr Alex Mould, the CEO of GNPC, said the Local Content Law provided opportunities for local firms in the oil and gas sector which some foreign companies would want to exploit using local and indigenous enterprises to do their bidding.

He, therefore, urged local companies not to be a front for foreign companies in Ghana’s Oil and Gas sector but build capacity to enjoy the benefits that the content law provided.

He said the Local Content Law allowed local companies to have a greater stake in running oil and gas companies rather than going for the minimum threshold of a five per cent stake in oil and gas companies operating in the country.

Siemens, which is currently active in over 200 countries, has a 156 year track record in engineering excellence, innovation, quality and reliability in Africa.

In 2016 Siemens announced several investment projects for Ghana’s energy sector through the provision of infrastructure as well as genuine and sustainable social upliftment.

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February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p19

Industry news

BP Thunder Horse South Expansion starts up ahead of schedule and under budget

OneSubsea’s Production System for Statoil’s Utgard Field

Deepwater Gulf of Mexico start-up expected to add 50,000 barrels of production, marking latest major investment in U.S. offshore region.

OneSubsea, a Schlumberger company, has secured an engineering, procurement and construction contract from Statoil to supply subsea production system for the Utgard gas and condensate discovery in the North Sea.

BP recently announced that it has started up the Thunder Horse South Expansion project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico 11 months ahead of schedule and $150 million under budget.

The project is expected to boost production at the facility by an estimated 50,000 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day, further increasing output at one of the largest oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico.

Thunder Horse South Expansion - along with our recent approval of the $9 billion Mad Dog Phase 2 platform demonstrates that the U.S. Gulf of Mexico remains a key part of our global portfolio today and for many years to come This project also marks the first of several major upstream start-ups expected before the end of this year and a major step toward our goal of adding 800,000 barrels of new production by 2020.

the seabed in late 2016.

The project was completed more than 15% below budget by relying on proven standardized equipment and technology rather than building customized components.

The first new well for the project tapped into the highest amount of hydrocarbon bearing sand seen to date at the Thunder Horse field, with drilling results confirming more than 500 feet of net pay. Planned for 2017, but brought online on December 8, 2016, the project demonstrates continued momentum for BP in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico where last year the company started up a major water-injection project at Thunder Horse and approved the $9 billion Mad Dog Phase 2 project, expected to come online in late 2021.

Richard Morrison, Regional President of BP’s Gulf of Mexico business, said: “The Thunder Horse South Expansion project, brought online ahead of schedule and under budget, proves that deepwater can be done in a cost-effective way, while keeping a relentless focus on safety. It also shows the effectiveness of our strategy in the Gulf, which is all about increasing production from within our existing asset base and large portfolio of undeveloped resources.”

Bob Dudley, BP Chief Executive.

Developed with partner ExxonMobil, the Thunder Horse platform sits in more than 6,000 feet of water and began production in June 2008. It has the capacity to handle 250,000 gross barrels of oil and 200 million gross cubic feet per day of natural gas.

The facility continued to operate during construction and installation of the new subsea production and pipeline system.

The Thunder Horse South Expansion project adds a new subsea production system roughly two miles to the south of the existing Thunder Horse platform.

The system is a collection point for wells connected to the Thunder Horse platform by two 11,000-foot flowlines installed on

In the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, BP operates four large production platforms - Thunder Horse, Atlantis, Mad Dog and Na Kika, and holds interests in four nonoperated hubs - Mars, Olympus, Ursa and Great White.

These new projects, coupled with a series of recent agreements we’ve reached around the world, reflect the growing momentum across BP and clear progress in building a strong foundation for the future.

p20 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

The scope of the contract includes a subsea template manifold system, two subsea wellheads and vertical monobore subsea trees, production control system, and associated intervention and workover tooling.

This follows the execution of a master service agreement with Statoil in January 2016, the company noted.

“We look forward to supporting Statoil in the commercial development of Utgard through the delivery of the subsea production system,” said Mike Garding, President, OneSubsea, Schlumberger. “In collaboration with Statoil, we are developing a new subsea wellhead system that is particularly suitable for the fairly shallow waters in the Utgard field; and we are committed to supporting Statoil in their drive to break the cost curve.”

OneSubsea and Statoil worked together to qualify a vertical monobore subsea tree as a standardized solution for Statoil’s subsea developments.

The vertical trees, which are part of the contract deliverables, will be assembled and tested at the OneSubsea facility in Horsøy, Norway.

Below: OneSubsea’s Production System for Statoil’s Utgard Field.

Europe’s largest annual Subsea Exhibition and Conference Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) 01-03 February 2017 ORGANISED BY

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A Crude Awakening – Adapting to the New Norm

By Neil Gordon, Chief Executive of Subsea UK. It is increasingly clear that the current oil crisis is fundamentally different in comparison to previous downturns. While no one can say how long the crisis will last, when looking at oil price trends over the years since the 1920s, it becomes apparent that apart from the cyclical spikes every few years, $100 plus was never going to be the norm.

However, this is the new norm and the recovery is much more about how we deal with the current price. Conditions are creating both challenges and prospects those who realign multiple aspects of their business and work hard to drive change will be best placed to take advantage of these opportunities.

Despite the drop in sales and confidence in the industry, the UK subsea sector is maintaining high levels of investment in technology. In our recent snapshot survey of members, almost 80% of respondents reported that they were still investing in new technology to secure long-term future growth.

Underwater technology, systems, and processes made in the UK have been helping North Sea operators recover hydrocarbons since the 1980s, and now is not the time to stop.

Companies need to figure out how to best structure

That’s why the theme for Subsea Expo 2017 is “Adapting to the New Norm”. The event will focus on the behavioural changes the industry must make to deliver the cost savings and efficiencies needed to sustain the sector for decades to come.

While I am in no doubt that there will be tough times ahead in the short-term, I do believe the subsea industry in this country is in a strong position to embrace the new market reality and, indeed, can capitalise upon largely because of our focus on technology and innovation.

p22 | www.sosmagazine.biz |

it,

February 2017

and allocate resources so that novel ideas and much needed solutions can be quickly identified and implemented. The focus must be on developing technology that will deliver efficiencies and add real value to the industry.

However, with fewer discoveries and ageing fields, operators are increasing production by using existing, less mainstream technologies that can be readily implemented to enhance and upgrade ageing subsea systems.

Devising smarter ways of applying these technologies can also reduce inefficiencies and counter the tendency towards over-engineering, which became a feature of the high cost, high oil price environment.

subsea expo 2017 preview

This doesn’t mean that new technologies are no longer needed. In order to extract higher yields from our existing assets and to do that viably we need to develop new technology and smarter integrity solutions that keep these ageing assets healthy.

things simpler, safer, and more efficient today to deliver lasting results for decades to come.

Smart collaboration, coupled with smarter applications of existing technologies, along with new innovations will help secure the subsea sector’s future and the sustainability of our industry in the new norm.

With a much greater industry focus on technology, investment in organisations like NSRI, OGIC and OGTC and a commitment on small pools led by the OGA, we have a fighting chance to reestablish ourselves firmly as leaders in innovation and technology and pioneers in mature provinces.

I think it’s clear now that short-term measures are not the answer this time around. Deeper, more fundamental change is required across the industry.

We can’t ignore the real changes that are happening in the world. It’s time to step up to the plate, adapt to the new environment and adopt a fundamentally different mind-set. It’s about making

During the North Sea subsea boom, it was easy to get lured away from internationalisation strategies and plans and focus on the work on our doorstep. While the potential of the North Sea still represents a major prize which the subsea industry must get after, the greater, longer-term prize lies in international waters.

If the UK subsea industry can rise to the challenge of solving the North Sea’s problems, while positioning itself in key overseas markets as proven problem solvers, we won’t only survive, but we will succeed and grow.

events@subseauk.com

www.subseaexpo.com

February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p23

subsea expo 2017 preview

exhibitor profiles

DimEye Corp

DimEye is a High Technology company based in California, specialized in 3D measurement by Photogrammetry and Laser technologies into inaccessible/hazardous environments.

DimEye is offering a revolution in Optical 3D Measurement: VLS™ (Video Laser Scan). VLS™ was developed to overcome specific measurement challenges in the Subsea Environment and has proven to be an extremely versatile and highly accurate 3D Subsea Metrology Tool mounted on ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) or AUV (Autonomous Underwater

T: +1 (310) 699-6227

VLS™ allows simultaneously High Accuracy 3D Measurement and 3D As-Built CAD Modeling of any large volume object (HD camera alone) as well as High Density and Accuracy Point Cloud of any component surface (HD camera and Laser Projection Device).

ARTIS are an independent material consultancy specialising in the testing, analysis and development of rubber materials. Whilst our expertise is in the rubber industry, we also have the ability to test and develop a range of other materials. We have a wide selection of equipment in house and a large network of partnerships within the UK and Europe, which permits us to offer an extensive range of testing techniques.

Our State-of-the-art demanding environment facility allow the exposure of polymeric materials to highly aggressive environments. With our comprehensive

Stand Number: 35

Address: 5115 Douglas Fir Road, Unit E Los Angeles, CA 91302 USA

W: www.dimeye.com

ARTIS

T: 01225 896500

Vehicle). It can also be operated by divers.

E: arnauld@dimeye.com

testing capabilities and experienced material scientists, we can help you fully understand the robustness of your materials to the demands of oilfield, aerospace, defence, automotive and chemical processing.

Stand Number: 177

Autoclave capable of exposure testing: Temp range: • Ambient to 250 °C Pressure Range: • Atmospheric to 110 bar Sour Gas testing to: • NORSOK M-170 • ISO 23936-2 • NACE TM0187 • NACE TM0296

W: www.artis.uk.com

E: enquiries@artis.uk.com

MAATS Tech Ltd MAATS Tech is a marine engineering consultancy based in Gloucester, England and offer total project management of bespoke project equipment to ship owners and operators. In addition to designing and building carousel, tensioner and overboarding systems for the deployment of flexible pipe, umbilicals and power cables, MAATS Tech also provide Marine Engineering, Naval Architecture and Finite Element Analysis consultancy services.

MAATS Tech Limited have completed the successful Factory Acceptance Testing on their 45 tonne 4 track Tensioners in preparation for installation and commissioning on the ABB ‘Victoria’ at Kleven

T: 01962 774986

shipyard, Norway during Q1 2017.

The 45tonne Tensioner has been designed to simplify the loading process for offshore Cable Lay Vessels involved in laying heavy interconnector type cables for deeper offshore and inter island projects. The machine is completely open to the top meaning that the only action required to load a product is the retraction of the top tracks of the 4 track, X-layout. The track pads are steel-rubber bonded assemblies profiled to suit a defined range of products ensuring safe and secure handling whilst delivering deft product tracking.

W: www.maats.co.uk

Stand Number: 111

E: enquiries@maats.co.uk

Zetechtics Ltd Zetechtics manufactures and supports the ‘Jupiter’ Subsea Control Solutions, Torque Verification Systems (Class 1-4 API 17D, 17H, Class 5 and Petrobras standard) and subsea sensors to measure torque, flow, turns count or both.

In addition to this, Zetechtics now offers a turnkey tooling solution with the introduction of the Class 1-4 and Class 5 Torque Tools.

T: 01653 602020

Recent product developments include the Jupiter RCU System and the Subsea ‘In Line’ Contamination Monitor (ICM), which was designed to monitor hydraulic system fluids.

Zetechtics also supports C-Kore – an umbilical and jumper monitoring device checking integrity of umbilical from surface to seabed.

W: www.zetechtics.com

p24 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

E: sales@zetechtics.com

Stand Number: 117

subsea expo 2017 preview

TRELLEBORG LEADING THE WAY IN INDUSTRY APPROVED SEALING MATERIALS Test certification for almost 30 of Trelleborg Sealing Solution’s best-in-class materials compliant with international standards are now available online as part of the company’s commitment to the quality and safety credentials of its products.

In today’s oilfield market, quality and safety are paramount. Simply saying you produce quality product is insufficient, and claims must be reinforced with experience, compliance to industry standards, and proven performance.

In its commitment to providing customers with market-leading sealing solutions, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions is celebrating almost 30 best-in-class materials for the oil and gas market compliant with international industry standards.

The materials, all subjected to comprehensive third-party testing, have been qualified to a range of specifications including NORSOK M-710, ISO 23936-2, ISO 10423/API 6A Annex F.1.13.5.2 and Total GS EP PVV 142.

They include a wide range of approved compounds, from elastomers to PEEK and PTFE based compounds.

Trelleborg’s extensive range of innovative seal materials and ongoing material development help it meet industryrecognised standards that require all subcomponents of oilfield equipment be approved to stated specifications.

Individual seal materials are rigorously tested and approved, both in-house and through respected third parties, based on criteria such as Rapid Gas Decompression (RGD) resistance, sour and sweet gas aging, compression set tests, and material properties.

whilst being subjected to high pressure conditions. The materials – which combine these characteristics with excellent chemical compatibility – both met the ISO 23936 standard as well as revision three of NORSOK M-710.

Isolast® XploR™ J9523 is a superior FFKM material capable of withstanding the harshest corrosion inhibitors, brines, control line fluids and injection chemicals. Operating temperatures range from an impressive -40°F / -40°C to +464°F / +240°C with short excursions to +482°F / 250°C. XploR™ V9T82 FKM provides unrivalled low-temperature RGD performance down to -54°F / -48°C with elevated resistance to methanol and acidizing agents. The elastomer operates from -54°F / -48°C to +392°F / +200°C with short excursions to +410°F / 210°C. Both materials exhibit a low glass transition temperature (Tg) point which allow the materials to remain elastic under pressure at much lower temperatures than standard grades.

Typically the Tg point of an elastomer is increased under pressure. In general, the Tg value rises by approximately +2 °F / +1 °C for every 750 psi / 5 MPa increase in pressure applied. For example, a seal material with a Tg rating of -4°F / -20°C at atmosphere will have a Tg rating of just +32°F / 0°C at 15,000psi / 100MPa.

but standard Hydrogenated Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (HNBR) and FKM materials offer limited sealing capability below freezing when operated at high pressures. When an elastomer reaches its Tg point its properties change from being elastic and pliable to becoming solid and brittle. As a result the elastomer is ineffective as a sealing solution and can be damaged easily.

All approved materials are specifically engineered to meet differing operating conditions in terms of media resistance, high pressure, life expectation, friction, and wear requirements. The range of compounds offered compliant to NORSOK, API and ISO and Total specifications includes best-in-class HNBR, FKM, Isolast® FFKM, PTFE based Turcon®, TFM and PEEK. Those wanting to find out more about Trelleborg’s approved materials can do so by visiting stand 46 at Subsea Expo, Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre, 1-3 February 2017 or by visiting:

www.oilandgas-seals.com

Low temperature sealing is becoming more common in oil and gas applications

Trelleborg now offers more sealing and bearing solutions for demanding oilfield conditions than any other company. Highlighting just two examples, Isolast® XploR™ J9523 and XploR™ V9T82 are both compliant with the RGD and sour service aspects of ISO 23936.

These “convention defying” materials are engineered to maintain excellent sealing function at very low temperatures February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p25

subsea expo 2017 preview

exhibitor profiles

Rhopoint Components Ltd Rhopoint Components has been meeting the exacting demands of the international marketplace in precision electronic components and sensor products since 1975.

We offer the highest level of technical field and internal office support for all our product ranges backed by an efficient stocking and distribution operation.

Rhopoint Energy is a brand of Rhopoint

T: 01342 330470

We are a subsea engineering consultancy, specialising in submersible pressure vessels, instrumentation housings, junction boxes, underwater camera housings, underwater housings, subsea housings pressure relief valves and other subsea enclosures and accessories.

Our leak-proof submarine pressure housings can be air-filled or pressure compensated.

Stand Number: 74

Address: Rhopoint House Imberhorne Lane East Grinstead RH19 1QZ United Kingdom

W: www.rhopointenergy.com

PREVCO SUBSEA LLC

T: 01892 731528

Components and is dedicated to looking after the energy markets with a range of products that are innovative and demanding for today’s needs.

E: sales@rhopointenergy.com

Underwater enclosures are often used for containing batteries, hydrophones, data-loggers and other data recording and monitoring equipment.

Stand Number: 125

Address: 10,000 N.Technology Drive Fountain Hills 85268 United States

W: www.prevco.com

E: stephen.ashley@prevco.com

SMD As the subsea group of CRRC Times Electric, SMD is an advanced global supplier of subsea remotely operated vehicles and autonomous power and control solutions. This includes specialist trenching equipment such as ploughs, trenchers and tractors and largest range of work class ROVs. SMD also offers bespoke innovative solutions, most recently producing the world’s first three deep sea mining machines for Nautilus Minerals Inc. SMD Services support clients through the full

T: 0191 234222

operational lifecycle of their assets. Offering a dedicated offshore team, 24/7 support, intelligent spares support, asset management, OEM training, an RMU service and a state of the art synthetic environment platform.

Stand Number: 116

Address: Turbinia Works Davy Bank, Wallsend Newcastle upon Tyne NE28 6UZ United Kingdom

W: www.smd.co.uk

pacson limited Pacson is a supplier of high integrity valves to the world oil & gas market. Our company is a leading developer for severe service and highly critical applications.

with a total in-house capability for the manufacture of surface valves, subsea valves and pressure control products up to 16 inch bore, or up to 20,000psi working pressure.

We are a privately owned Scottish company, with its headquarters in a modern 5,000 m2 manufacturing facility based in Dundee, Scotland.

Our product range consists of ball, gate, needle and check valves meticulously designed to your specification in compliance with API & ASME standards.

Pacson offer high quality products and services,

T: 01382 513655

W: www.pacson.co.uk

p26 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

E: info@pacson.co.uk

Stand Number: 48

subsea expo 2017 preview

TSC excited to be at Subsea Expo 2017, 1-3 Feb 2017, showcasing the latest developments in ACFM® Subsea scanning solutions, Stand 30; or join us in the Subsea Springboard session Subsea Expo 2017, the industry’s flagship event, will open it’s doors on February 1st, 2017 and TSC Inspection Systems are proud to be taking part on Stand 30.

The core product range ACFM equipment will be on show as will some of the latest ACFM subsea scanning solutions, following recent successful subsea campaigns in some very challenging environments.

Greater demands for remotely deployed subsea ACFM® inspection have led to an further developments in engineered diverless solutions and TSC’s subsea inspection capabilities will be focussed on in more detail on Day 1 on as part of the Subsea Expo’s “Subsea Springboard” session hosted in the GE Oil and Gas Arena. Our Engineering and Operations Director, Dave Parramore, will focus on advanced ACFM and it’s deployment in the subsea environment and how it can be used to deliver highly accurate inspection data, whilst enhancing safety and aiding with cost reduction.

Attracting over 5000 delegates Subsea Expo, Aberdeen, is the world’s largest exhibition conference with this industry focus. The TSC team will include members of our Engineered Solutions team and ACFM Inspection Engineers together with our MagCrawler and Nodescanning systems and a preview of some of our new portable ACFM solutions.

If you would like to find out more about how ACFM® technology and TSC personnel can support you throughout your inspection campaigns, visit us on stand 30 and find out more about TSC System Rentals, Inspection Services and Engineered Solutions. We look forward to meeting you there or if you would prefer, contact us in advance to arrange a meeting to discuss your subsea inspection challenges, please email: ccuciureanu@tscis.com About TSC Inspection Systems TSC Inspection Systems provides advanced

Above: A TSC bespoke engineered NodeScanner and U31 subsea ACFM system mounted on to a ROV ready for subsea deployment, up to 100m, in the North Pacific

Ocean. Air temperatures often dropped to minus –11oC, plus wind chill, whilst the average sea temperature hovered at just above zero.

Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) solutions, founded on their unique and patented Alternating Current Field Measurement (ACFM®) technology. The ACFM® technique detects surface-breaking cracks in metallic structures and components, without the need to remove protective coatings, therefore minimizing downtime for critical operations. Independent tests show that ACFM® technology is one of the world’s most reliable NDT methods, producing an audit-trail which makes the inspection process significantly more robust than traditional methods.

TSC Inspection Systems was established in 1984, as a spin-off from University College London, by a team of Professors and Lecturers who were recognised leaders in the fields of NDT, robotics and fracture mechanics. ACFM® was developed with support from BP, BG, Conoco and Shell, who were keen to significantly improve the reliability of underwater inspection, reduce the reliance on the diver operator and provide auditable inspection records.

TSC Inspection Systems is the developer and sole supplier of ACFM® technologies,

with bases in Milton Keynes, Aberdeen and Singapore. TSC design and manufacture rugged, field proven ACFM® systems for subsea and topside applications, together with a wide range of probes TSC offers customers a wide range of support in the execution of subsea and onshore inspection programmes worldwide, including ACFM® system sales and rentals, operator services and engineered solutions for diverless subsea ACFM® deployment.

For further information please visit the TSC Inspection Systems website:

www.tscis.com February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p27

subsea expo 2017 preview

Unlocking Marginal Fields at Subsea Expo 2017 With increasing pressure on the industry to find economically viable ways to develop marginal oil fields in the UK North Sea and further afield, NSRI (National Subsea Research Initiative) is looking to help the industry adopt a collaborative and integrated approach to exploit the potential of untapped ‘ small pools’ (oil and gas reserves less than 50 million boe).

As the technology arm of Subsea UK, NSRI will be hosting a workshop at Subsea Expo 2017 on Thursday 2nd February to highlight the work that has been done to maximise economic recovery from small pool developments across the UKCS. The event will welcome a host of industry experts to the stage to showcase their involvement and provide a platform to discuss the next steps, looking at what is required to unlock reserves that have previously been deemed uneconomic.

The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) recently announced that approximately 350 unsanctioned discoveries containing more than 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) remain in the UKCS. It was discovered that the majority of small pools are in close proximity to existing infrastructure, however some are stranded and will require novel, standalone facilities.

Peter Blake, Chairman of NSRI and Subsea Systems Manager for Chevron’s UK Energy Technology company, commented:

These discoveries, while economically challenged, represent a significant potential to extend the economic life of the basin. There are a myriad of challenges; from stranded pools distant from infrastructure, to fluids incompatible with potential hosts and complex ownership structures.

However, what is common to them all is that they need new

p28 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

ways of thinking, the application of new technologies and greater collaboration to develop economic solutions.

To safeguard our industry we need to kick-start these developments.

Often conventional solutions prove too costly or unsuitable for marginal fields, so smarter engineering combined with better ways to manage technical and economic risk is required.

If the subsea industry can rise to this challenge of economically tapping into these pools, the North Sea could have a whole new lease of life.

Carlo Procaccini, Head of Technology at the OGA, said:

Following an extensive mapping exercise, we now know exactly where these small pools are located and we are working with NSRI and others to change the existing industry paradigms to unlock their potential.

Technology development is key to small pools cost reduction, from reducing the cost of development wells to designing optimised subsea infrastructure and tie-backs to existing host facilities or efficient standalone concepts.

Exploited successfully, the recoverable oil and gas held in small pools offer a significant MER UK opportunity and could represent a new chapter for the UKCS.

The session which will be chaired by Mr Blake, will welcome speakers from the OGA, Oil and Gas UK, EnQuest, the Oil and Gas Technology Centre, Technip and Subsea 7. The presentations will look at activity currently underway to effectively unlock the potential value of small pools, as well as highlight the approach and mind-set required to progress economically viable marginal fields.

“We need the industry to embrace the size of the prize and come up with modern, cost-effective approaches to safely exploit marginal and stranded fields. We hope the session will help to break down some of the barriers and identify ways to help speed up the development of fit-for-purpose solutions which will go some way in securing the long-term future of the industry in the UK North Sea,” added Mr Blake.

The Unlocking Marginal Fields session will take place on Thursday 2nd February at Subsea Expo, which takes place at the Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre from 1-3 February 2017.

With around 150 exhibitors expected, Subsea Expo is an opportunity for those in the industry to showcase new technology and services. The 2017 programme is packed with high profile industry speakers from a number of companies including Aker Solutions, Xodus, Wood Group and Shell UK. Their presentations will cover global opportunities, fields of the future, diversification, integrity management, life extension and unlocking marginal fields.

DECOMMISSIONING & ABANDONMENT Oil & Gas Vessel Decommissioning Market Segment Forecasts up to 2023, Research Reports:TMR Ship decommissioning usually occurs some years after the ship has been commissioned and is a means by which a vessel that has become too old or too obsolete can be retired from the operating fleet.

Decommissioning of a vessel may also occur for safety reasons (such a ship’s nuclear reactor and associated parts reaching the end of their service life), depending on the type of ship being decommissioned. In a limited number of cases a ship may be decommissioned if the vessel in question is judged to be damaged beyond economical repair.

Although, the increase in offshore exploration has led to several new oil and gas discoveries, it has also laid a negative impact on the environment.

The non-functioning offshore oil and gas platforms and other installations pose a threat to the marine environment and are a major source of marine pollution. The increasing need of offshore exploration activities combined with stringent environmental regulations imposed by governmental organizations has augmented the need for marine vessel decommissioning.

Moreover, heavy penalties imposed by governments on any negligence by exploration and production companies have resulted in companies investing further in offshore installation decommissioning.

p30 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

Oil and gas decommissioning action plan launched A new decommissioning action plan has recently launched by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Scottish Enterprise (SE).

The plan aims to support Scotland’s oil and gas sector to take advantage of the estimated £17.6 billion forecast by Oil & Gas UK to be spent on decommissioning on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) between now and 2025.

In the UKCS alone, 302 oil and gas installations, 373 subsea installations, 16,000km of pipelines and more than 5,000 wells will all eventually need to be decommissioned.

With a strong track record developing around decommissioning projects, it is estimated Scotland could capture between £8.3 billion and £11.3 billion of this spend which could lead to 18,900 jobs being supported as a result.

The overall aim of the plan, developed by, is to establish Scotland as an international Centre of Excellence for decommissioning and to assist the development and delivery of effective solutions for decommissioning.

Building on Scotland’s globally recognised oil and gas expertise, the plan is focused around six strategic objectives - information, supply chain, technology and innovation, infrastructure, skills and training and international opportunities. These will be delivered through a number of actions such as: • development of a Decommissioning Support Programme to provide expert advice to 50 companies • engagement with 150 companies to raise awareness of and stimulate demand for innovation and R&D support for decommissioning • engagement with ports and onshore yards to encourage future investment opportunities • identifying overseas decommissioning opportunities and facilitate trade missions to/from Scotland to explore inward investment/partnership opportunities.

The development of new technologies and an increased focus on skills and training is also highlighted to help grow Scotland’s reputation and position it at the forefront of this global opportunity.

The plan will be led, in the main, by HIE and SE with close collaboration with others including the Oil and Gas Authority, the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and industry bodies such as Decom North Sea and Oil & Gas UK. Scotland is increasingly developing a strong reputation in supporting decommissioning activities. Xodus Group, for example, has completed over 60 projects to date.

Building on this success, the action plan aims to identify the range of activities involved in decommissioning programmes as well as support companies to focus, in particular, around the higher value activities, such as well plugging and abandonment (P&A), which is estimated to be worth 47% of the total decommissioning activities in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

International sector head for oil and gas at Scottish Enterprise, David Rennie, said:

With around 20 billion barrels of oil and gas remaining in the UKCS, our support, very much continues to focus on prolonging the life of Scotland’s oil and gas sector.

That said, we can’t ignore the significant opportunities decommissioning will bring for Scotland.

This plan will help us put in place the necessary support to help Scotland’s supply chain build on its existing success as well as maximise the significant opportunities in the future, both at home and overseas.

We already have a strong record in decommissioning and we want to do even more.

For more information, please visit:

www.hie.co.uk

decommissioning & abandonment

Eightfold increase in the number of oil and gas companies that collapsed last year

Nexen Submits Ettrick and Blackbird Decom Plan

According to experts, low oil prices are resulting in more oil companies going bust, driving insolvencies in the U.K. oil and gas sector to a five-year high last year.

Oil company Nexen, a subsidiary of CNOOC, has submitted a plan for decommissioning of the Ettrick and Blackbird fields, located in the UK North Sea.

Accountancy firm Moore Stephens noted that there was an eightfold increase in the number of companies that collapsed last year, from two in 2015 to 16 in 2016.

In 2014, six companies folded, against just one in 2013 and none in 2012.

The company said the collapse in oil prices from $120 a barrel to just under $50 a barrel last year had pushed many businesses against the wall.

The rise in businesses facing insolvency was also witnessed in North America, where 48 oil and gas companies filed for bankruptcy between January and July last year, according to data from Haynes and Boone LLP. However, smaller North Sea operators

faced “particular stresses,” such as decommissioning costs and lack of capital investment, when compared with companies in other countries.

Mike Tholen, Oil & Gas U.K.’s upstream Policy Director, said,

The report from Moore Stephens demonstrates how tough the last two years have been for the oil and gas industry.

The sector has faced up to the challenge and taken action to transform its competitiveness with costs per barrel down by 45%, positioning the North Sea to compete with the best for fresh investment. It is vital now that we see an upturn in activity.

However, a 25% increase in oil prices in the last quarter of 2016 may lead to better times ahead, with the OPEC deal on cutting output also expected to prevent prices from falling further.

Ettrick field, operated by Nexen, has been producing oil and gas through subsea wells tied back to the FPSO Aoka Mizu.

Blackbird field was also tied back to the Aoka Mizu FPSO. The company cancelled the FPSO Aoka Mizu contract with Bluewater in May, and the decommissioning of the vessel started in June 2016.

Furthermore, Nexen plans to recover FPSO moorings to shore.

Subsea equipment will be recovered to shore and piles cut to -3 meters.

All buried pipelines and umbilicals will be left in situ, with end sections cut and recovered to shore.

According to the UK government website, the decommissioning campaign could last until 2019/2020 with the subsea infrastructure removal as the final step.

Nexen said it has investigated various alternative production strategies to extend the life of the Ettrick and Blackbird fields, but no viable alternative to decommissioning has been identified.

Below: Nexen Submits Ettrick and Blackbird Decom Plan.

February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p31

ROV’S/AUV’S/LIGHTS & CAMERAS Teledyne SeaBotix Upgrades U.S. Department ofDefenseROV Fleet

Kongsberg Delivers Hugin AUV Training to Indonesian Navy

Teledyne SeaBotix has secured an operational capability upgrade contract with the U.S. Department of Defense through distributor, Atlantic Diving Supply (ADS).

The upgrade program will result in delivery of sixty new Teledyne SeaBotix vLBV300 remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) mobile units around the globe.

EOD Mobile have utilized the capabilities of Teledyne SeaBotix LBV and vLBV ROVs for several years.

The new SeaBotix vLBV 300 will be fitted with a range of equipment, including SeaBotix’s tracked crawler attachment s kid, imaging sonar, tooling options, altimeter and USBL/GPS navigation capability plus the Teledyne Marine autonomous ROV navigation package – SmartFlight.

Teledyne SeaBotix is honored to be awarded this contract.

Teledyne SeaBotix ROVs are robust and reliable systems that are used

by EOD and other military and security forces. The systems perform a variety of critical functions for the military but also serve to keep the men and women of our military out of harm’s way.

William Kikendall, President of Teledyne SeaBotix.

Below: Teledyne SeaBotix Upgrades U.S. Department of Defense ROV Fleet.

Kongsberg Maritime’s Marine Robotics department has provided a three week training of Hugin AUV systems set up on Indonesian Navy’s new survey ship program.

The introduction training was conducted at a hotel in Central Jakarta, and the last week was at sea in Semangka Bay for practical training down to depths of 1000 metres.

The training objectives for the crew before embarking for the sea trials ranged from system understanding to inertial navigation and advanced mission planning.

“Language barriers made the training challenging,” says chief AUV instructor Stian Hopmark, “luckily, this was compensated for by the students having an extraordinary interest in the subjects and willingness to learn.”

OCEA, the French shipbuilder that built and delivered the two survey ships has stated that they are very pleased with Kongsberg Maritime’s efforts during the training. “Both crews have gained a lot of experience and feedback on their Hugin AUV system, in a very high level of expertise provided by the Kongsberg team. Goals of operator training have been reached above expectations,” says Julien Lagadec, OCEAs representative in Jakarta.

The Head of Delegate from the Indonesian Navy, Colonel Budi, said: “We are in many ways pioneers using such advanced survey equipment in South Asia. This is just the start.”

p32 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

SMD Tests Curvetech Parts for New 6000m Quasar ROV Following the contract award from Shanghai Salvage for a 6000m Quasar Work Class ROV, SMD engineers have successfully completed work on the associated Curvetech subsea components to assure maximum working depth up to 6000 meters.

SMD has a dedicated team of engineers who specialise in the design and testing of SMD’s Curvetech components.

Michael van Zwanenburg, Principal Curvetech Engineer adds:

Our in-house Curvetech engineers have years of experience developing components for subsea systems.

We want to offer the best products for our customers every time. This allows them to buy with confidence, knowing that they are always getting the quality they need. We have a strong ethos and track record of providing components that can be can relied upon.

The testing means that the Curvetech range now includes compensators and electrical control Principal Circuit Boards (PCBs) rated for 6000m depth operations.

Mark Collins, Managing Director for SMD ROVs, said: “Reliability of SMD vehicles and components is key to our clients’ success and we commit to this at all levels.

Hyperbaric testing of critical components is an expensive operation but by performing this testing our clients can be confident that our ROVs will operate reliably right from delivery. SMD’s aim is always zero vehicle down-time.”

Below: SMD Tests Curvetech Parts for New 6000m Quasar ROV.

rov’s/auv’s/lights & cameras

SAAB SEAEYE SEE AN ALL-ELECTRIC FUTURE Electric robotic systems will perform all tasks in the underwater domain, including those now undertaken by hydraulic systems, says Saab Seaeye.

They see a future where ROVs and AUVs in their present form will cease to exist and are replaced by transformative e-robotics that can roam, hover, reside and perform all underwater tasks.

It is a future where task resolution is key, not class of vehicle, says the company.

Such tasks will include the heaviest in the subsea industry, tasks that electric systems and tools on the market today cannot yet undertake, but where the company sees rapidly advancing technology, innovative design and operational methods opening up an all-electric underwater world.

This will bring further significant savings, says director, Matt Bates, savings that are already here today as electric technologies bring considerable through-life cost economies.

Electric is also more effective, he contends, as an all-electric robotic system is up to 50% more efficient, and typically has double the power density of an electro-hydraulic system.

Miniaturisation Rapid advances in miniaturisation - a key benefit of electric technology - are accelerating advances, says Matt Bates, and are creating electric robotic systems that are smaller, lighter,

smarter, more agile and more powerful.

Electric actuators and tools have the added benefit of a simplified, reliable interface which, when complemented with an internal processor and suitable micro-sensors, extracts valuable data, enhances control options and increases total system reliability through continuous internal monitoring. Having more data available from a device assists with pre-emptive maintenance planning and, coupled with an electric-only interface, allows for more remote long-term deployment underwater.

Lower costs Matt Bates says technology breakthroughs are already bringing savings, with reductions in vehicle size, weight, cable diameters, winch size and other elements, leading to more compact systems that make considerable economies for operators.

He points to the Leopard work vehicle as an example of how technology breakthroughs are opening up a lower cost future.

Compared to a 60 ton hydraulic equivalent, the Leopard’s 30 ton complete package has a much smaller footprint, faster mobilisation time, lower maintenance costs, and needs fewer staff at the worksite, Matt Bates says. In addition, the Leopard’s unprecedented ratio of thrust to volume

and speed through water provides the payload, power and control stability needed to carry the range of tooling and sensors usually associated with much larger systems.

Transformation A foretaste of transformative technology can be seen in the emergence of the hovering autonomous vehicle capable of being controlled remotely through low bandwidth links whilst accurately performing long excursion inspections, surveys and environmental monitoring tasks. An example is the Sabertooth which has merged AUV and ROV technology into a single system that can, through wireless communication, roam, hover and perform tetherless light intervention tasks such as valve operations with an integrated electric torque tool.

Intelligent control Common to the future of all robotic systems is intelligent, behaviour-based control systems architecture, such as the iCON system, which comprises a set of hardware and software building blocks that allow harmonious migration of concepts across different systems and accelerates future development innovation.

February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p33

rov’s/auv’s/lights & cameras

Forum ROV to support University of Limerick’s pioneering Renewables Projects Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. has won an order to supply the University of Limerick with a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to support its subsea inspection and intervention work on renewable energy infrastructure.

The University’s Mobile and Marine Robotics Research Centre (MMRRC) has purchased the Sub-Atlantic™ Comanche 2,000 metre Observation Class ROV and associated launch and recovery system for delivery in March 2017 under a MaREI Science Foundation Ireland infrastructure grant (15/RI/3232).

The Comanche was selected due to its high thrust to drag ratio enabling it to operate in strong waves, currents and winds – typical conditions for the offshore renewables industry. The system will be equipped to a high specification with precision positioning and navigation systems, camera and lighting systems and sonars.

Dan Toal, Director MMRRC, University of Limerick said “To aid research, development and roll out marine renewable energy, it is vital that we can operate in the high energy wave, wind and tidal regimes of target sites and understand the environment from an operational capability. Wind, waves and currents can make it an extremely difficult environment for humans to operate in, so it is necessary for us to use advanced subsea robotic systems and vehicles which are capable of operating in the harshest of underwater conditions.

“Forum’s Sub-Atlantic Comanche ROV is

designed and proven to work effectively in strong wind and current regimes. Coupled together with University of Limerick’s OceanRINGS autopilot systems we believe a blended auto-control approach can push the capabilities of current underwater platforms, reducing the dependence on the few in number most experienced pilots, extending operational weather windows and allowing us to get to infrastructure that otherwise we would have no way of inspecting, repairing and maintaining. This vehicle is based on years of research and development and will help us in our work to improve renewable technologies and learn how to make effective use of our oceans resources. “ The vehicle will be housed at Limerick Docks where experimentation, testing and demonstration will be carried out. It will also be mobilised on vessels at other ports in Ireland, for offshore work at wind, tidal and wave energy test sites and farms.

Kevin Taylor, Vice President for Subsea Vehicles at Forum said: “It is a pleasure to be supplying one of our vehicles to support the University of Limerick with their pioneering research in marine and renewable energy. Our Comanche ROV is an extremely powerful unit for its type, and its ability to house components makes it ideal for this type of work.”

The MMRRC in the University of Limerick, established in 2000 by Director Dr. Daniel Toal, is the only research centre focused on the application and development of marine robotics within the island of Ireland.

This research centre consists of a mix of postdoctoral researchers and PhD students

from various disciplines including electronic, computer, mechanical and aeronautical engineering backgrounds. The research centre brings together a highly capable engineering group focused on developing practical and industrial relevant marine technologies.

From marine robotics to navigation, sensor development, emergency response planning, ROVs and unmanned aerial (UAS) technologies, they are actively involved in developing a diverse range of practical technologies in Irish funded (including Science Foundation Ireland), European funded and industry collaborative projects.

Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. is a global oilfield products company, serving the subsea, drilling, completion, production and infrastructure sectors of the oil and natural gas industry. The Company’s products include highly engineered capital equipment as well as products that are consumed in the drilling, well construction, production and transportation of oil and natural gas.

Forum is headquartered in Houston, TX with manufacturing and distribution facilities strategically located around the globe.

For more information, please visit:

www.f-e-t.com

Webtool Subsea Resettable Emergency Disconnect Cutter Hydraulic cutting systems specialist, Webtool, announces a resettable emergency disconnect cutter for light and medium subsea well intervention. As an integral part of either a workover tool or dedicated emergency disconnect package, the Webtool guillotine cutter can n ow be reset subsea by ROV, avoiding the need to return the cutter to the surface vessel for resetting.

The Webtool emergency cutter is a simpler and quicker emergency disconnection than more complex multi-line stab-plate systems for mixed p34 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

material bundles. Within a well intervention emergency disconnect package, the bundles are securely positioned in the mouth of the cutter.

Multiple fluid transfer lines and hydraulic flying leads (HFL), steel tension member, fibre rope, reinforced hoses, electrical conductors, cables and electrical flying leads (EFL), are all cut in single guillotine action taking just a few seconds.

The Webtool cutter offers considerable weight savings compared with other emergency disconnect methods, and is easily retrofit to intervention systems.

ROV Subsea Resettable

In the event of an emergency disconnection, the Webtool cutter is reset by the ROV releasing the blade and re-charging the hydraulic system.

The ROV then places the new HFL and EFL / mixed material bundles in the jaw of the cutter.

As an alternative to rechargeable accumulators, Webtool also offers a solution which requires no external power source, and automatically activates when the emergency disconnect package separates. In this way, proven Webtool cutting heads and blade technology are combined with hydraulic pump actuators to provide the mechanical power necessary to cut modern connection bundles.

rov’s/auv’s/lights & cameras

Digital Edge Subsea Digital Video Recording and Inspection Systems Diving Workclass & Inspection ROV Platform & Pipeline Inspections Construction and Decommissioning www.digitaledgesubsea.com

PRODUCTS

• Bespoke solutions available to suit customer requirements • Survey Equipment Deployment Frames • Manual Torque Tools • ROV Docking Probes & Docking Frames • ROV Handles & Mounts • ROV Tooling Skids & Backpacks • ROV Tooling Rental & Sales

EXPERTISE

• Dynamic management team with over 30 years specific industry experience • In-house 3D design and verification service • Proven network of fast reaction, trusted suppliers • ISO 9001 certified company

• • • • • •

SERVICES

Service, maintenance & repair Instrument pipefitting Bespoke ROV tooling design Pressure testing and commissioning Equipment qualification On-site support

ToolTec Ltd, Unit 2, Straik Road, Elrick, Westhill, Aberdeenshire AB32 6TJ Telephone: 01224 279411 • www.tooltecltd.com • sales@tooltecltd.com

February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p35

rov’s/auv’s/lights & cameras

Nautilus Hook – The New Safety Standard NAUTILUS Rigging (UK) Ltd are the leading innovators of safe lifting equipment, the patented “Nautilus Hook” design incorporates unique safety features which significantly enhance personal safety for all general lifting hook applications.

Setting a new workplace standard.

Nautilus Hooks are widely recognised as the “next generation” of general lifting hooks, the unique design takes the evolution of lifting hooks to a peak level of development and sets a new standard for personal safety in lifting hooks. The integrated safety handle and side mounted locking mechanism eliminate the risk of, potentially serious, pinch and trap hand or finger injuries while providing the user a simple, easier, and ergonomic one handed operation.

These patented safety features were the deciding factors in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers awarding the Nautilus

Hook design as worthy winners of their prestigious, Best Mechanical Engineering Award at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston.

Managing Director, Bill Toon advised “We are delighted at the response and positive feedback that we constantly receive from organizations who have adopted Nautilus Hooks as the absolute safest type of lifting hook. Users of Nautilus Hooks recognize the immediate operational and safety benefits of the patented design features, in particular the combination of a separate safety handle and unobstructed handle space together with the side mounted, thumb operated, lock actuator provides a unique operating mode “in the plane of the hook main face” which changes the fundamental operating method of the hook, from the forward wrist bending motion of traditional hooks, to an ergonomic rotational wrist motion.

In practical terms this makes the Nautilus Hook very easy to operate, giving the hook a “light” feel which is particularly beneficial in the larger size/rated hooks which, although a heavy piece of kit, remain an easy one handed operation to open the hook. Users comment how easy and quick it is to discharge the master link or sling from the Nautilus Hook, this is due to the unique internal profile of the load bearing portion which self-discharges the link or sling

as the hook is fully opened thereby eliminating any need to “jump” the link out of the hook which is a known contributing factor to the wrist strain associated with the use of the outdated “latch lock” style traditional hooks.

The company has produced excellent short videos detailing the unique operational and safety benefits of the innovative Nautilus Hooks which can be viewed from the home page at: www.nautilusrigging.com Nautilus Hooks are available with SWL from 4t to 22t, with swivel, eye, or clevis tops to suit all applications. Nautilus Hooks are manufactured to international standards and the company provides fully certified chain or wire assemblies customized to your requirement or bare hooks to retro-fit existing equipment.

For quotes or enquiries email: sales@nautilusrigging.com Nautilus Hooks are the cost efficient solution to eliminating risks associated with the use of traditional hooks, proven to significantly improve operational safety the Nautilus Hook is the new safety standard in general lifting hooks. By adopting Nautilus Hooks organizations can align best practice with the stated objectives of their corporate safety policies, and meet the regulatory requirements of PUWER 98 to provide the safest possible equipment that reduces risk, with the common goal of reducing risk and improving workplace safety.

Safety!, It’s in your Hands!

Top rght: Nautilus Hook, Ergonomic rotational wrist action to open the hook.

Bottom right: Traditional Hook, forward wrist bending action to open.

NautilusHooks

TM

OFFSHORE

MINING

CONSTRUCTION

SHIPPING

Across industry and around the globe Award winning Nautilus Hooks© are setting the new safety standard for lifting operations • Winner 2010 ASME Best Mechanical Engineering Award - technically advanced • CE Certified and DNV type approved - safer operation • Eliminates pinch and trap hand injuries - reduces risks • Range of hooks from 4 to 20 tonne W.L.L. - cost effective

Safety, it’s in your hands.

NautilusRigging Manufacturers of NautilusHooks

TM

Forfind salesorand enquiries, contact: sales@nautilusrigging.com To become a distributor contact:

www.nautilusrigging.com Tel +44 1224 772323

Type Approved

UNDERWATER INSPECTION Underwater Inspection with Smart MEC-Combi Inspection Tools

By Andreas Boenisch of Innospection.

Corrosion is a constant challenge and a substantial threat to the structural integrity of the offshore and subsea oil and gas production installations.

The mature and ageing assets in the North Sea, in particular, have become subjects of increasing inspection demand and condition assessment.

The target of such assessments is not only for lifetime extension but also to demonstrate fitnessfor-service in order to ensure the safe operation of the assets, both for Operators’ own interest as well as to demonstrate proactiveness to the authorities.

Maintaining the integrity of the subsea assets such as coated and uncoated subsea pipelines, subsea structures, subsea manifold pipes, Flowlines, flexible risers, mooring lines as well as FPSO and ship hulls is a huge challenge due to accessibility issues and difficult inspection conditions such as the water depth, visibility and temperature.

p38 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

Underwater inspection missions led by divers inevitably bring challenges such as poor navigational accuracy, human operator limitations and safety concerns which add up to incomplete or inaccurate data coverage. At the same time, traditional subsea inspection methods such as General Visual Inspection (GVI) or Close Visual Inspection (CVI) are no longer sufficient to allow a sensible integrity assessment. In addition, not all advanced Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technologies proven for the onshore inspection are suitable or easily deployed in the underwater environment.

In respond to the market demands, Innospection has developed and launched over the past few years a series of smart, multi-function MEC-Combi inspection tools that has been designed and built to target inspection, deployment and subsea accessibility challenges.

Based on the next generation MEC (Magnetic Eddy Current) technique which has demonstrated the capability of detecting the smallest pitting corrosion, cracks and thinning, the MEC-Combi inspection tools are designed to provide comprehensive inspection data within a single deployment.

Supporting add-on inspection techniques

such as high resolution Ultrasonic mapping, Pulsed Eddy Current, laser triangulation system and camera system can easily be incorporated to provide high density inspection data.

Deployed by divers or work-class / inspection-class ROV systems, the MECCombi inspection tools are capable of self-crawling along the inspection surface to perform the scanning while maintaining its stable contact despite the turbulences due to its integral buoyancy, hydraulic wheels and magnetic system. The signal data with encoded position details is transferred in real time via the umbilical to the inspection computer located on the support vessel or installation. The advanced reporting software utilises a combination of comprehensive C-Scan mapping of the internal and external wall condition, individual defect sizing analysis as well as matrix data to provide a reliable and extensive condition assessment.

Some successful projects where the MEC-Combi inspection tools have helped the Operators solved their particular inspection challenges and saved on inspection time and costs include the External Subsea Pipeline Inspection Solution Package for the external

UNDERWATER INSPECTION

inspection and condition assessment of subsea pipelines which are largely non-piggable and traditionally requiring costly internal inspections. A combination tool for the subsea corrosion mapping and geometry measurement of structural legs and conductors at the splash zone and subsea area has been deployed in Trinidad and the North Sea where such assessments are especially important for

subsea structures which may be reused and repaired.

To further support the challenging subsea inspection projects, Innospection’s large in-house R&D team has made progress to the ongoing developments related to the extended inspection scope for flexible risers and an automated inspection system for hull inspection.

In these pictures: External underwater inspection of subsea pipelines and assets with the smart, multi-function MEC-Combi inspection tools.

Jupiter Flexibility What makes us the leading tooling intervention control solution provider?

All Jupiter control solutions are supplied with the unique Jupiter software which allows you to configure or modify any aspect of the operation of the control system. This improves your client’s satisfaction and reduces your time and costs. You have the same access as our Zetechtics software engineers, and we can help you if you need it. Many of our clients now configure their own user interface. We are always on hand to help with our unrivalled global 24/7 support, including remote online assistance, should you ever need it. Of course, full training packages are also available worldwide.

With 25 Years’ experience and over 70 variations of control systems to choose from, we are sure that we can help you find the best control solution for your application.

With just one of our Jupiter Control Systems you can control many different applications...

Some applications include: Torque Tool / FLOT Operation Manipulator Control Pipeline Repair / Winch Pull In High Flow / Suction Anchor Diamond Wire Cutting Sampling Skids TMS / TDU

• • • • • • •

117

Come visit us at stand No.

Tel: +44 (0) 1653 602020 Email: sales@zetechtics.com Website: www.zetechtics.com

Zetechtics Ltd

February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p39

underwater inspection

Sonardyne provides subsea navigation for McDermott International Inc. pipelay vessel LV 108 Sonardyne Inc., Houston, recently announced it has supplied acoustically aided inertial navigation technology to offshore engineering, procurement, construction and installation company, McDermott International, Inc., for its Lay Vessel 108 (LV 108).

The Ranger 2 Pro DP-INS system, the highest specification available from Sonardyne, is being used to support touchdown monitoring surveys of submarine cables, umbilicals and pipelines and as an independent position reference for the LV 108’s Kongsberg dynamic positioning (DP) system.

McDermott’s LV 108 entered service in 2015 and is currently on contract in the Ichthys field, Western Australia. Designed as a fast-transit, dynamically positioned (DP 2) vessel for subsea constructions support across a wide variety of water depths, the LV

108 has 21,528 sq ft of deck space and can accommodate a crew of 129.

Dynamically positioned construction and installation vessels such as the LV 108, conventionally rely on Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) acoustics and the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) as their primary sources of position reference data.

However, a vessel’s station-keeping capability can be compromised in the event the USBL is affected by thruster aeration and noise and the GNSS signal is simultaneously interrupted.

The latter is particularly common around equatorial regions and during periods of high solar radiation.

Sonardyne’s Ranger 2 Pro DP-INS system addresses this operational vulnerability.

It aids vessel positioning by exploiting the long-term accuracy of Sonardyne’s Wideband 2 acoustic signal technology with high-integrity, high-update rate inertial measurements. The resulting

navigation output has the ability to ridethrough short-term acoustic disruptions and is completely independent from GNSS. Jason Peters, Global Survey Manager at McDermott said, “The decision to equip the LV 108 with Sonardyne’s DP-INS reflects our approach to fleet expansion and renewal. This strategy focuses on ensuring our vessels and acquisitions keep abreast of the industry’s growing demand for safe, efficient, cost-effective installation solutions for field developments across all water depths.”

STR ENTERS THE INSPECTION MARKET WITH AN INNOVATIVE FLOODED MEMBER DETECTION SYSTEM STR’s reputation as specialists in developing high quality technology for the subsea industry will be enhanced as they set to release their new SeaGamma Flooded Member Detection System at Subsea Expo Exhibition 2017.

Gamma Flooded Member Detection has long been the method of choice for the inspection and monitoring of subsea structural members for the detection of water ingress. FMD inspection technique can also be applied to locating blockages in pipelines as a result of pigging or silt build up.

With climate change warming our coastal waters, progressive marine growth means traditional methods of NDT inspection can be costly and inefficient. The STR SeaGamma FMD standard system has been designed from the ground upwards

p40 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

to rapidly survey components up to 2m diameter from an inspection or work class ROV and requires no marine growth removal to deliver results.

and is expected to be the method of choice for the inspection and monitoring of subsea components for the detection of water ingress.”

Neil Jackson, Sales and Operations Manager at STR said: “SeaGamma FMD system has been designed with substantial input from industry inspection experts

For further information on SeaGamma or any other products and services offered

by STR visit Stand 113 at Subsea Expo or email: sales@str-subsea.com

Expert ACFM® Solutions for Subsea Crack Detection & Measurement.

Visit us on Stand 30

Contact TSC: Milton Keynes Aberdeen Singapore

+44 1908 317444 +44 1224 725136 +65 6543 9728

Remote subsea ACFM inspection.

Diver deployed ACFM inspection.

Scanner, Crawler & ROV deployment.

Inspecting up to 2000m deep.

UWILD inspection campaigns.

ACFM inspection services.

ACFM systems rentals. www.tscis.com

tech spotlight VERSATILE CRANE SYSTEMS COMPLY WITH INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS & STANDARDS The crane systems manufactured by material handling specialists J D Neuhaus are designed for arduous operating conditions, and have a proven track record throughout worldwide installations. Industry applications include oil and gas exploration and processing locations, both on and offshore, where explosionproof operating conditions are paramount. Utilising an impressive range of compliance standards ensures that the JDN equipment is also suitable for safe operation in a wide range of industrial and commercial activities, meeting the relevant safety standards where appropriate. Examples include, APi 7K, Ansi B30.16, ABs, dnv Approval Programs, norsok; tensile strength 2.5, dynamic factor 1.33; safety factor 5:1 acc to Ansi B30.16.

These JDN handling products are fully supported by a worldwide servicing operation providing product supply, installation, maintenance and service/ repair services with traceability through the JDN unique parts marking system.

Typical standard crane systems currently available include: overhead cranes with single or double girder design; underhung cranes including low headroom design; jib cranes; cranes with in-line mechanically linked synchronised hoists; cranes with parallel operating hoists; crane capacities up to 100 tonnes; crane operation spans up to 36 metres. All products are suitable for both indoor or outdoor installations with optional power supplies for compressed air or hydraulics.

The J D Neuhaus cranes and hoists are resistant to dust, humidity and aggressive atmospheres as standard, operating within a temperature range of -20°C

Below: A J D Neuhaus hydraulic crane with 80 tonne lift capacity, with rack and pinion drive mechanism for offshore application.

Above: Typical slewing cranes supplied

by J D Neuhaus, incorporating their air operated lifting hoists designated for safe operation in potentially explosive atmospheres.

to +70°C. They provide 100% duty ratings with no downtime and only minimal maintenance requirements.

Overload protection and fail-safe braking are incorporated with emergency-stop safety features.

Special limit switch arrangements for end-travel, anti-collision and protected zone status can also be incorporated as required.

Both standard and custom built crane designs can be supplied with crane kits, to fully accommodate customers’ design and build requirements.

Component kits complete with pneumatic or hydraulic drives can be supplied to crane manufacturers for overhead travelling cranes up to 10 tonnes capacity.

The customer simply provides the main girder with JDN supplying all the necessary components for building a crane to their chosen design.

Along with hoist and trolleys, JDN provide end carriages with drives, energy feed systems and appropriate safety accessories.

JDN crane systems have been utilised in many general engineering operations ranging from typical heavy duty operations like power plants, refineries, sawmills, foundries, shipyards to even

p42 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

tech spotlight explosives and pyrotechnics manufacture.

The Ex classifications applicable to the JDN products according to EC Directive on Hazardous Locations 2014/34/EU are EX II 2 GD IIA T4 / II 3 GD IIB T4.

A higher rating available featuring increased spark protection is EX II 2 GD IIC T4.

Other industries that have less demanding load requirements, but still require explosion protection include chemical and cement plants, sawmills, paint shops, oil storage plants, electro-plating and some aspects of food production where there is potential for dust-laden (and potentially explosive) environments being created.

For general engineering requirements, super-silent operation is available in the hydraulic powered range, while oil or HFC pressure fluids can be used at intake pressures of 100 to 180 bar. Only two supply connections are required per hoist with leakage oil drained internally for maximum safety and cleanliness of the working environment.

The JDN range of compressed air operated hoists, operating at 4 or 6 bar pressure, incorporate integrated overload switch-off functions. They also

In this photo: Typical J D Neuhaus double overhead girder crane shown fitted on a semisub rig.

feature sensitive, infinite controls with controlled load-lowering in the event of power failures.

J D Neuhaus also specialise in the provision of crane systems adapted to suit individual customer requirements.

This can include remote radio control of the crane lift and traverse operations, covering comprehensive application requirements and even simultaneous operation of multiple hoists. For lifting operations on offshore rigs or sea going vessels, crane systems can be fitted with rack and pinion drive systems to ensure safe operation during bad-

In this image: CAD drawing showing typical energy chain drives for both vertical and horizontal energy chain mechanisms.

weather conditions. Control boxes with receiver can also be customised to suit specific electro-hydraulic interface requirements, together with all necessary system tubing in stainless steel where required.

Recently introduced nickel-plated hoist units have been introduced for operations where wash-down cleaning is utilised, such as food and pharmaceuticals manufacture, or wherever other cleanroom operating is needed.

www.jdngroup.com

tech spotlight

Rotterdam Offshore Group upgrades world’s largest jack-up vessel - Seajacks Scylla The world’s largest jack-up vessel Seajacks Scylla, has recently visited the Rotterdam Offshore Group (ROG) terminal in the Waalhaven, after her first successful assignment on phase 1 of the Veja Mate Offshore Windpark project.

construction at the Veja Mate wind farm, and the high quality installations committed by ROG have been key to making this happen.

During the vessels stay at the Waalhaven facility, ROG performed an upgrade on the vessels mooring system. ROG worked around the clock to complete the project within strict deadlines and to the highest quality levels required by the vessel owners and to class satisfaction.

“We congratulate ROG and Seajacks on the visit of Seajacks Scylla to the ROG yard. With more focus and consequently business in offshore wind in the Port of Rotterdam, we expect more jack-up vessels to call our port. Companies like ROG are taking care of a warm welcome to the new type of visitors of the harbor with specific needs for jack-up possibilities and professional (de) mobilization facilities”.

After the upgrade, Seajacks Scylla sailed to Esbjerg where the vessel has been mobilised for the 2nd Phase of the Veja Mate offshore wind farm project which includes the turbine installation of 67 Siemens SWT-6.0-154 wind turbines at the 402MW wind farm.

Seajacks Scylla had already completed phase 1 of the project, installing 67 foundation monopiles at the site located some 95km north west of the island of Borkum in the German exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Each monopile weighs approximately 1300 tonnes, has a diameter of 7.8 metres and each transition piece is over 25metres in length and weighs approximately 360 tonnes.

Veja Mate is a EUR 1.9 billion (US$2 billion) offshore wind project expected to be fully operational by 2018 which will offset over 18 million tonnes of CO2 over the life cycle of the installation.

John Vingoe, Operations Manager Seajacks UK Ltd stated: Seajacks are glad to say that the recent works conducted by Rotterdam Offshore Group, were done in a highly professional and timely manner. Dealing with Martin and his team to upgrade Seajacks Scylla has been a positive experience all round, and we highly recommend their workforce and services. The Port of Rotterdam is an ideal place to conduct works of this kind, given the proximity of quality suppliers and subcontractors, and we look forward to working there again soon. Scylla is now fully engaged in Wind Turbine Generator p44 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

meters. The rig is capable of meeting the installation needs of jumbo-monopiles, jackets, and turbines of future wind farms in deeper waters farther from shore.

Joost Eenhuizen – Business Manager Offshore Port of Rotterdam Authority added: Below: Seajacks Scylla in ROG facilities in the Waalhaven, Rotterdam.

Martin van Leest - Managing Director ROG added: “We were very proud to have this unique vessel at our yard and believe the complete port of Rotterdam was also proud. The level of interest was high and even The Spido tour boats adjusted their route to visit the Waalhaven to see Scylla.

Working with the team at Seajacks was a pleasure and we created a real team effort to complete the project on time and to the highest specification. The crew on board really took good care of our employees.

This good cooperation resulted in a maximum result possible. We hope to have Scylla back at our yard after she finishes her Walney project.”

Seajacks Scylla, the world’s largest and most advanced wind farm installation and offshore construction vessel was delivered by the Samsung Heavy Industries Shipyard in Geoje, Republic of Korea in 2015.

The vessel has been designed to operate in the UK Round 3 offshore zones, Scottish territorial waters and the other North West European markets.

Based on the Gusto MSC NG14000X design, the ABS-classed Seajacks Scylla, has more than 8,000 tonnes of available variable deck load. Equipped with a 1,540 tonne leg-encircling crane and a usable deck space in excess of 5,000 square meters, the unit is outfitted with 105-meter legs with the ability to install components in water depths to 65

Below: Seajacks Scylla – Aerial view.

tech spotlight

ROTRONIC ATEX Certified Humidity and Temperature Sensors The ROTRONIC Intrinsically Safe HygroFlex5-EX series of humidity/moisture and temperature sensors was developed for easy installation in areas where there is a risk of explosion due to dust or gas in the environment.

They were designed to meet the demanding requirements of the oil & gas industry as well as the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and food industries, and are suitable for hazardous applications elsewhere.

ATEX certified probes are available for all applications.

The Intrinsically Safe transmitters have two channel 4…20 mA outputs selected from temperature, humidity or a moisture value such as dew point or ‘absolute humidity’ (for example Mixing Ratio g/kg). These can be freely scaled exactly as required, using Rotronic HW4 software, for the process being monitored or controlled.

The Rotronic HygroFlex5-EX measurement transmitter conforms to the latest international standards. The transmitter is Intrinsically Safe (secondary side); 2-channel outputs.

Main features: • Stainless steel probes certified for ATEX Zone 0/20 • Standard & cable mount probes with a screw-in probe for pressure applications • HygroFlex5-EX measurement

transmitter certified for Zone 1/21 • The transmitter is Intrinsically Safe (secondary side) • Wall and duct versions available An LC display is an option • 2-wire supply, 2-analogue outputs (option of dew point, absolute

humidity (g/kg) or another moisture value • Robust aluminium transmitter housing; high IP66 protection • Range of calibration accessories for use in the Safe Area A technical datasheet is available, visit:

www.rotronic.co.uk

ROTRONIC Instruments (UK) Ltd T: 01293 571000

Vessel Technology unveil new product the DPSS® Net to reduce cost, time and risk Vessel Technology are proud to announce the launch of a new innovative product the DPSS® Net. The new DPSS® Net product allows customers to reduce operating costs, time and risk associated with Dynamic Positioning operations.

The DPSS® Net allows network storm tests to be carried out to verify vessel control systems as well as identify any issues.

David Milne, Director of Vessel Technology, said “The DPSS® Net compliments Vessel Technology’s DPSS® product which has been warmly received into the industry where no similar solution is available.

Both of our products allow the vessel’s crew to perform functionality that was previously not possible without the attendance of the manufacturer’s service engineer.”

The DPSS® (Dynamic Positioning Signal Simulator) product has been tested on sea trials during an FMEA in conjunction with

DP & Marine Assurance. Peter Solvang, Director of DP & Marine Assurance, said “Vessel Technology’s products help prevent DP incidents and issues, and enhance safety.” Customers have noted that a single use of the product can more than pay for itself compared to having to arrange a service engineer to visit the vessel.

Located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Vessel Technology has a focus on providing innovative solutions to the marine industry to reduce costs and provide additional functionality.

The company pioneered the DPSS® – the first portable DP test equipment available in the marketplace.

For further information on Vessel Technology and its products and solutions please visit:

www.vessel.technology or visit us at stand D6 at the Subsea Expo 2017.

February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p45

tech spotlight

New VLBG PLUS Now Offers 45% Higher Working Load Limit (M8-M30) RUD Chains is a leading manufacturer of lifting and lashing equipment that helps guarantee ultimate safety when lifting and moving heavy loads. Their diverse product range offers over 600 tested and certified lifting and lashing points for bolting and welding covering a working load capacity range from 0.6-250 tonnes.

The ever popular RUD VLBG load ring has been developed to offer the new VLBG Plus. The innovative VLBG Plus now includes RUD’s robust ICE- Bolt.

The ICE-Bolt is made from their revolutionary patented fine grain steel which is operational to temperatures as low of -60°C. Lifting points are often used for turning, rotating and tilting which adds a considerable risk to the lift. When lifts are turned under full load it results in high friction between the bolt head and the rotating connecting element, which subsequently can lead to the opening of the bolt mid lift which can occur with DIN 580 / standard eye bolts.

However this does not happen with the new RUD VLBG plus.

The VLBG Plus bolt offers a considerable safety feature to the operator and equipment being lifted; it will stay firmly fastened under full loads, vertically or horizontally. The ICE-Bolt is quick and easy to install and assembly is possible with a flat/ ring wrench or Allen key.

The VLBG plus offers an impressive 45% higher working load limit (M8-M30) compared to the VLBG. It rotates 360º and the suspension ring pivots 180º.

The clamping spring works as a noise reduction function and holds the suspension ring in the requested position.

A clear marking of the minimum working load limit for all loading directions is also highlighted on the load ring.

Plus can be used across a variety of working environments from engineering, construction, rail, offshore, handling and MOD projects to name a few.

Complex lifts where the load has to be manoeuvred and tilted in all directions can be safely and effectively done with the use of the VLBG-Plus load ring. The VLBG

For more information call: 01227 276 611 Email: katie.crane@rud.co.uk or visit us at: www.rud.co.uk

Advertise with us Tel: +44 (0)1634 568925 / 568929

www.sosmagazine.biz

tech spotlight

One and two input Counters simplify applications in hazardous and safe areas BEKA associates new one and two input pulse Counters can economically perform industrial counting functions in hazardous and safe areas. All models have large easy to read displays with optional backlighting, isolated synchronous pulse and 4/20mA outputs, plus dual alarms.

IECEx, US and Canadian certification may be installed in gas and dust hazardous areas.

For applications in Zone 2 or 22, Ex nA and Ex tc approval of the stainless steel model permits installation without the need for Zener barriers or galvanic isolators, significantly reducing cost.

The two input Counters can display the sum or difference of the inputs in engineering units and when configured for use with a quadrature encoder, the position and speed of a shaft or cable can be shown.

Although well documented and easy to configure on-site, Counters can be supplied configured with requested scale card marking for no additional charge.

Intrinsically safe models with ATEX,

For further information including

datasheets and certificates please visit: http://www.beka.co.uk/one_and_two_input_ counters.html or phone the BEKA sales office on: 01462 438301

Forum Energy Technologies Delivers 350th RT Torque Machine Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. revealed last month, that it has designed, manufactured, tested and delivered its 350th rotational torque (RT) torque machine to TAM International, a globally recognised downhole inflatable packer leader.

The torque machine, or bucking unit as it is commonly referred, was manufactured at the Forum AMC facility in Aberdeen, UK. This represents the sixth unit that TAM has purchased from Forum in three years, and is a testament to TAM’s growth plans, as well as their trust in Forum’s equipment and global support network. The machine will be used to make up or breakout downhole completion and drilling tools with premium threaded connections.

The machine can work autonomously to achieve a pre-determined amount of rotational torque and provides an auditable report for thread inspectors, drilling contractors or casing crews. After delivery, Forum will provide TAM with maintenance and support from equipment specialists in Aberdeen and Singapore.

James Bement, Forum’s Senior Vice President of Drilling Technologies, said: “Our equipment has gone through many improvements over the past 27 years, and our 350th machine provides customers with the latest software to meet the increasing demand on makeup inspection criteria. Among other improvements, our new hydraulic power

Above: David Neill of TAM International (left) receives a plaque from George Hendry, business development manager for Forum AMC, recognising the purchase of the 350th RT torque machine.

unit (HPU) is capable of improved cycle efficiencies of up to 68%, and reduces energy consumption by up to 31%.

We look forward to continuing our partnership with TAM in other locations, and to seeing the next 350 machines take on our customers’ challenges.”

After witnessing and signing off on the factory acceptance test for the new unit, David Neill, TAM International, remarked: “Another quality product from a quality company. Having experienced the numerous operational benefits of Forum’s torque machine at TAM International’s Aberdeen facility, we’re pleased to add this new machine to our new Australian base in Roma.”

Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. is

a global oilfield products company, serving the subsea, drilling, completion, production and infrastructure sectors of the oil and natural gas industry.

The Company’s products include highly engineered capital equipment as well as products that are consumed in the drilling, well construction, production and transportation of oil and natural gas. Forum is headquartered in Houston, TX with manufacturing and distribution facilities strategically located around the globe. For more information, please visit:

www.f-e-t.com February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p47

tech spotlight

STUDENTS FLY FALCON FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Above: Students inside the research ship exploring the undersea world with the Falcon’s live feed HD quality video. The Research ship with the Saab Seaeye Falcon on board.

Students get hands-on experience operating a Saab Seaeye Falcon ROV in the Gulf of Maine on the eastern seaboard of the USA where they explore the undersea world and develop their environmental awareness.

The project brings students, scientists, teachers and marine professionals together and is run by OceansWide, a non-profit organisation, and is an outreach programme that supports the outreach requirements of the National Science Foundation and other granting agencies.

Young people are encouraged to participate in real life scientific research and write reports on their findings.

The activities are run both in class and on board OceansWide’s research ship - from where the Falcon is deployed.

In addition to encouraging understanding through research, Buzz Scott, President of OceansWide, explains that the project aims to support industry and marine science by creating innovative programmes that use ROVs to inspire young people to expand their horizons and teach them about the world’s oceans through first hand shipboard experience.

Buzz Scott says they opted for the Falcon, p48 | www.sosmagazine.biz | February 2017

After a lot of research into the best robotic system and found the Falcon kept coming out top for the smaller research projects.

holding steady in currents whilst filming, and the fibre system means we get HD quality video coming up the tether to the support vessel.

He says the Falcon allows them to dive deeper than any other small ROV and manoeuvres more efficiently, and has an overall better quality of video capture underwater.

He concludes by extolling the value of undersea exploration for young people: “We like to get the kids involved no matter what their interests, because once you get them out on the water to see what’s down there – it’s in a way like sailing with Jacques Cousteau or Bob Ballard - you get the bug.”

The controlled power of its five thrusters is so much better for precise manoeuvrability and

Below Students with the Saab Seaeye Falcon on board research ship.

Preparing the Saab Seaeye Falcon for a dive.

tech spotlight

ACE Winches secures spooling contract with Oceaneering Leading global deck machinery specialist, ACE Winches, has secured a spooling contract with Oceaneering for Shell’s Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) project.

The contract will be the first time ACE Winches’ newly developed 500te reel drive system is used. The tool is an upgrade of its existing 400te system that has been engineered and manufactured at ACE Winches facilities in Aberdeenshire.

The product range has been developed for high tension spooling and the deployment and recovery of subsea products such as umbilicals, risers and flow lines, flexible pipelines, power cables, telecommunication cables, tubing, wire ropes and mooring lines. It can accommodate a gross weight of 500te.

Alfie Cheyne, CEO, ACE Winches commented: “We are thrilled to be utilising our new 500te reel drive system for this contract with Oceaneering. As our clients projects continue to venture to even greater depths, we understand the need for this equipment to operate in harsh conditions and as a result, have developed it to ensure we are accommodating the ever growing needs of the oil and gas industry.”

The scope of work will see ACE Winches spool 4400m of umbilical, with a

diameter of 229mm on to a 12.2m reel.

The weight of the umbilical is the heaviest Oceaneering has ever spooled with a total weight of 426te.

a 500te load.”

ACE Winches modified its existing 400te reel drive system to meet the client’s specific requirements with an added base frame and packers to allow the 12.2m reel to be spooled on the quayside.

ACE Winches also supplied a total of 10 qualified commissioning engineers and technicians to assemble the ACE 500te reel drive system quayside, before operations started, with a further six operating technicians providing a 24 hour service to complete the first phase of spooling.

Chris Waller, Engineering Manager, commented: “ACE Winches has invested heavily in the design and manufacture of reel drive systems and we are excited to be expanding our capabilities to allow for 14m maximum flange diameter and

The patent pending 500te system consists of two towers that disassemble into eight modules for easy transportation. The towers use a slave and master configuration, with two gear boxes in each drive hub.

Amarinth secures second API 610 OH2 order aboard the FPSO Egina Amarinth, a leading company specialising in the design, application and manufacture of centrifugal pumps and associated equipment to the Oil & Gas, petrochemical, chemical, industrial, power and renewable energy markets, has secured a further order of API 610 OH2 pumps to be used aboard Total’s new Egina FPSO vessel.

Amarinth’s Malaysian operation secured this second order for API 610 OH2 super duplex pumps for a de-sanding and process water treatment package aboard Total’s Egina Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel following on

from its successful delivery of a previous order for API 610 OH2 pumps with Plan 53B seal support systems.

The 200,000 barrels per day capacity Egina FPSO vessel, being built by Samsung Heavy Industries of Korea at a cost of $3.3 billion, will arrive in Nigeria around April 2017 and will be working in Total’s $16 billion Egina deep water field situated 150km off the coast of Nigeria in water depths of up to 1,750m.

Oliver Brigginshaw, Managing Director of Amarinth, commented:

We are delighted to provide

these additional pumps to the Egina FPSO project, an order which also underlines our decision to open our office in Malaysia last year enabling us to offer even better support to our rapidly growing customer base in Asia Pacific.

February 2017 | www.sosmagazine.biz | p49

tech spotlight

SPE/IADC DRILLING CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 14–16 March 2017

World Forum, The Hague The Netherlands www.spe.org/events/dc/2017

REGISTER NOW!

Coming up in the MARCH 2017 issue of Subsea & Offshore Service Magazine...

Lifting Equipment, Deck Machinery & Winches, Offshore Safety & Protective Clothing, Sealing Solutions & Gaskets, Flow Measurement,

Training & Development, Hazardous Area

If you have any news, insights or product launches that you would like to share with our readers, please email them to:

editor@sosmagazine.biz for consideration in our future issues.

4 – 6 April 2017 Southampton UK

The hands-on ocean technology exhibition and training forum

REGISTER FOR *FREE

International exhibition showcasing 340+ exhibitors from across the globe

Cutting edge conference presenting the latest developments in the industry

Hands-on demonstrations held in 180+ workshop sessions

Industry associated meetings held by leading organisations

Ocean Careers event For further information: +44 (0)1453 836363

Networking opportunities

info@oceanbusiness.com

at the welcome drinks, wine trail and gala dinner

* The exhibition, workshops, associated meetings and Ocean Careers are FREE to attend. There is a fee to attend the conference.

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