UT
March 2010
3
The ONLINE magazine of the Society for Underwater Technology
Biological AUVs Offshore Engineering Oceanology
UT3 1Q 2010
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Introduction
Introduction Welcome to the inaugural edition of UT3 , the online magazine of the Society for Underwater Technology. I am going to do a couple of these to see how they are accepted. I have got very good pre-launch feedback so far, but be your own judge. What is UT3? In order to grow the SUT’s print magazine, UT2, I decided to increase traffic to the website by including a subsea news stream. While this was largely successful, it soon became clear that items soon disappeared off the front page and into the archives, yet were still valid as news stories. I decided, therefore, to investigate the possibility of writing an online magazine that would be updated periodically and the product stories would have a longer shelf life.
How is it different? Many magazines have an online version. UT3 is different in that it will be specifically written to be read on a screen. This allows much larger photographs. I don’t think that the format readily lends itself to in-depth technical articles, which will remain the domain of UT2 Why the white gaps? The reader will see white gaps and spaces. This is because it is a work in progress. We invite readers to submit application stories and information. On a given deadline, we will close the issue, sub edit it and publish it. And start the next one. Contents Until the issue is finalised, it is difficult to say exactly which page a story will fall. Pages are added all the time. To give the reader
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some sort of assistance, the banners are colour coded. Find your area of interest in the contents page and follow the spectrum until you get to the relevant part. Advantages The online will have considerably more readers than the printed version, and a greater international readership. It will carry adverts but anyone that advertises in UT2 will get an advert in UT3 for free. So, enjoy the publication and please leave any feedback at ut3subsea@gmail.com so we can try to improve it. Please feel free to submit articles and stories, but good photos and illustrations will make them particularly stand out.
Content s Introduction3, Biomimetics8 Subsea UK 16 Oceanology 18 Subsea Conferences 28 Field Development 30 Trees 44 Pipelines 46 Exploration 59
March 2010
Subsea Operations 62 Subsea Survey 64
UT
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Underwater Vehicles 68 Diving 78 Autosub 80
Society for Underwater Technology 80 Coleman St, London EC25 5BJ
Renewables 83 Subsea News 84
+44 (1) 480 370007
Company News 90 Cables 92
Editor: John Howes John@ut-2.com
Salvage 95
Sub Editor: Mariam Pourshoushtari Mariam@sut.org
Abandonment 96 Offshore Vessels 100
Classification 110
US Representation: Stephen Loughlin Ad-Expo Marketing International Phone + (281) 373-1811 adexpomarketing@yahoo.com Production: Sue Denham
Industry Group 114
ISSN: 1752-0592
Estuary Support 102 Oceanology 104
Forecast 115 People 116 Places 120 SUT 124
Published by UT2 Publishing Ltd for and on behalf of the Society for Underwater Technology. Reproduction of UT2 in whole or in part, without permission, is prohibited. The publisher and the SUT assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material, nor responsibility for content of any advertisement, particularly infringement of copyrights, trademarks, intellectual property rights and patents, nor liability for misrepresentations, false or misleading statements and illustrations. These are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. Opinions of the writers are not necessarily those of the SUT or the publishers.
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UT2 has launched an online version called UT3 What is UT3? The e-magazine project started following a drive to increase traffic to the website www.ut-2.com, by including a subsea news stream. It soon became clear that many stories were not time-sensitive and disappeared into the archive too quickly. One option is to display these stories online in a magazine format. While this greatly increases the shelf life of stories, it also has a number of other advantages. Length UT2 is limited to 48 pages. UT3 has no such restrictions. Pages can be continually added until the publication date, allowing more subjects to be covered. Large Pictures These are visually appealing and can often illustrate ideas better than words, however, conventional print magazines cannot use this format because of space limitations. Numeric Distribution UT2 has a distribution limited by economics to members of the SUT, targeted and paid subscribers. UT3 goes out to these and thousands more subsea professionals
Navigation Thumbnail pictures of all the pages
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Geographic Distribution Magazines are also limited by economics as to where they are distributed. UT3 is only limited to people around the world that have access to a computer Search The electronic medium makes it easier to search for a specific story within the magazine. Advertising While having a greater distribution, advertising rates in UT3 are cheaper than the already competitive rates of UT2. For the time being, anyone that advertises in UT2 will get an advertisement in UT3 for free!
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To subscribe, send a message to ut3subsea@gmail.com
www.ut-2.com UT3 1Q 2010
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New SUT Chief Exec Left: The new chief executive Dr Bob Allwood. Right: the outgoing chief executive, Ian Gallett
With his years in the SUT engine room, chairing committees and actively working within the heart of the organisation, Allwood was the perfect choice to grasp the baton and lead the Society into the new decade.
have a broad international presence which started with the establishment of bases in heartlands such as Aberdeen, Houston, Perth and Rio de Janiero. We now have branches in Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur, and have laid plans to expand into new strategically important territories such as Bergen, Cairo, Halifax and Mumbai, where subsea engineering is the key to unlocking a major growth potential.
For his part, Ian Gallett had already agreed to work part time and move into an international business development capacity. He would also be able to provide his successor with the benefit of experience gained from 15 years at the helm. And thus the seamless transition began.
“It is important that these new outposts are not left in isolation and are made to feel part of the Society. This is particularly true in branches where English is not the main language. We will work hard to communicate with these groups to inform members what they are doing and vice versa.”
So what is Allwood’s vision of the future?
In the long term, Allwood intends to turn his attention to the various committees.
“The SUT has two demonstrable strengths,” he said. “We have a broad spectrum of interests, ranging from marine science to offshore technology, theoretical research to front end engineering. We can be of value to people involved in every sector of the subsea industry.
“At the moment,” he said, “we have 8 or 9 sub-groups which look into the various areas that are of interest to our members. Some of these are very successful and others less so.
“Coming from an academic background, I can see the real value for the SUT in welcoming more universities and research bodies into our community. While specific universities already play a very important part, I would be keen on a more international outlook.”
“We must look at what support we need to give, and particularly which areas we are missing out on. There will be value in the sub-groups communicating
Any changes are going to be evolutionary, not revolutionary, and the SUT can look forward to many years in safe hands.
On the midnight of 31st December 2009, the mantle of chief executive of the SUT passed from Ian Gallett to Dr Bob Allwood.
“Secondly, largely due to Ian, we now
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with each other better, as issues are rarely unique. “We may also add to some of these special interest groups. In recent years, the renewables sector has become hugely important and maybe we need to focus more in this area. As offshore fields reach the end of their economic life, the area of salvage and decommissioning becomes increasingly relevant and this is another sector to which we might wish to turn our attention more. “In general, we ought to look at better ways of working and communicating what we are doing, both between ourselves, and to the world outside.
Biological AUVs
Biomi Bionic Marine Animals In order to explore the world’s deep oceans and possibly work beyond the practical depths or capacities of remotely operated vehicles, the subsea industry has developed a number of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) designs.
disadvantage of getting entangled in reeds.
One way that engineers have approached the challenge of AUV design has been to observe the mechanisms employed by fish and other marine animals to move underwater. From these insights, it could be possible to look at shapes and movement mechanisms amassed from thousands of years of marine evolution and replicate these lessons in the mechanical design of submersibles.
There are two basic locomotive actions in water that most marine animals possess, although some have tuned them to an advanced level. The first is swimming long distances, often with great speed or bursts of acceleration. A good example of this is the tuna or barracuda.
The term for copying biological movement is ‘biomimetics’. The ultimate practical way of testing these observations is perhaps to physically construct robotic sea animals. The rewards for constructing robotic animals are potentially huge. Being able to emulate the low noise, high efficiency and ability to swim long distances displayed by sea animals is potentially useful in a variety of marine and military applications. They could be suitable for applications such as carrying out longer and more complex subsea surveys, detecting the leakage in oil pipelines, mine countermeasures and robotics education. They could be especially useful in oceanographic research by conducting observations without disturbing the real fish. Conventional underwater vehicles are characterised by rigid structures moved by propellers. Such systems are generally agreed by technologists to be noisy, inefficient and not particularly manoeuvrable when compared with marine life. Propellers also have the
Robotic Fish
Conversely, the undulating movement of a tail enables fish, at least in part, to swim long distances with great speed, efficiency and manoeuvrability.
The second is high manoeuvrability – sometimes turning in a fraction of their length and doing this at great speed. Eels or sea snakes have evolved highly efficient biomechanics to enable this. Researchers have concentrated on two main modes of swimming. The first is the sustained swimming mode that is characterised by the cyclic repetition of propulsive movements. This enables the fish to cover large distances at fairly constant speed. The other type is the more unsteady transient mode, which is seen when fish carry out the sharp turns and quick bursts of speed associated with hunting or escaping from a predator, or avoiding near obstacles. A number of robotic fish designs have been developed at various universities and institutes. They range in sophistication from small robots able to carry out elementary actions, to larger multifunctional models. The propulsion is normally provided by one or a number of servo motors concatenated together in the tail to act as joints. Other motors in the head can be used to drive the fish up and down. On the back of the body, a dorsal fin is fixed vertically to keep the fish from swaging.
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Work at the Human Centred Robotics (HCR) group at the University of Essex has focused on the development of various kinds of embedded systems and intelligent robots that can be used in environments coexisting with humans. One of these research projects, under Prof Huosheng Hu, has been the development of an advanced, fully autonomous, robotic fish that can swim to a depth of 4m at a top speed of 0.5m/s and cruise at a speed of 30cm/sec. It is about 500mm in length. “The aim of our project is to design and build autonomous robotic fish that are able to react to the environment and navigate toward the charging station,” said Prof Hu. “In other words, they should have features such as fishswimming behaviour, an autonomously navigating ability but a cartoon-like appearance that is nonexistent in the real world so they can be differentiated.” The London Aquarium awarded the group a £150 000 funding grant, which was followed by another £43 000 for the development of a new robotic carp. The fish design is based on six powerful, remotely controlled servo motors controlled by four onboard computers. Ten sensors including a depth gauge, gyroscope, accelerometer, inclinometer and four infrared obstacle detection sensors provide information.
A robotic carp at the London Aquarium
imetics
A robotic fish
SHOAL Recently, Prof Hu has been working on the search and monitoring of harmful contaminants in port using a swarm of robotic fish (SHOAL). Essex University, in collaboration with five partners, will develop a robotic fish with embedded chemical sensors to detect water pollution. The fish will approach possible leaking ships and use sonar beacons to communicate sensor readings to the port authority, which if necessary will impose a sanction.
l Deploy a layered control architecture in each robotic fish for integration of navigation, communication and pollution monitoring sensors by other partners
pressure, chemical sensors, etc.
l Adopt behaviour-based approach to build a set of swimming patterns (steady and unsteady) and actions (individual and shoal)
Apart from designing the mechanical structure, the Essex team will also look at the behaviour of the fish while swimming. For an individual fish, they have looked at avoiding obstacles, keeping level, seeking a goal, wandering and escaping.
Each robotic fish is 1.5m long, with over 10 sensors such as sonar, gyro, global positioning, current,
To integrate with the other fish, the researchers must also look at alignment, separation and cohesion. Fish design for the SHOAL project
A 3D pollution map will be built and displayed on a central computer screen for the port authority to view the data in real time. The role of the Essex team in the SHOAL project is to: l Develop an innovative mechanism for building a team of three robotic fish
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Biological AUVs
Bio AUVs Jessiko
Last year, the French company, Robotswim, won the Grand Prix de l’Innovation de la Ville de Paris for industrial decorative design for its robotic fish Jessiko. This award – constructed from an original piece of the Eiffel tower – is the latest accolade for the piscine robot. The fundamental design is based on the morphology of a hammer-headed shark. The main propulsion is carried out by the sweeping of the caudal (tail) fin, which enables the robot to achieve velocities of a metre every 5 seconds. With a length of only 20cm, it can swim its body length every second. By modifying the position of the tail sweep, it can turn right or left. The pair of lateral fins are used to maintain stability, moving to change the centre of gravity as appropriate. The dorsal fin can move up and down to change the water displacement, and, therefore, the buoyancy.
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Left: The Jessiko. Below left: The Jessiko in a bowl to show its small size. Below: Jessiko models in an aquarium
The hammer-headed shark is distinctive for its ‘cephalofoil’ – the part of the head that is flattened and laterally extended. In Jessiko, this becomes a fin in its own right. It allows the fish to move up or down while inhibiting any unwanted rolling. Furthermore, the rapid movement allows the fish to move backwards. A pair of embedded microprocessors, using artificial intelligence, is important in the swimming operation. Sensors allow the robot to receive messages from both coded transmitters and other robots, while light detection systems allow it to realise the presence of walls and other obstacles. A light emitting diode behind the dorsal fin can assist in recognition and avoidance. The Jessiko is aimed at a range of markets. When used in marine monitoring, its size means that it can reach poorly accessible places. Being able to communicate with other models increases the
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area of coverage while reducing the cost of the operation. Jessiko can also be used as a research tool, providing a platform for users developing aquatic navigation tooling without having to design their own vehicle. An important application of Jessiko, however, is to allow the public to interface with the world of marine robotics. It is intended to be used in public and private events, scientific museums and aquaria. Each fish carries its own illumination, and a school of 10 or more could realistically provide a night-time light spectacle with interesting choreographies. Multicoloured Jessiko models
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Biological AUVs
Bio AUVs
Hydrodynamic hull shape Ventral fin that undulates to make a wave in the water which propels the robot backwards or forwards
Gymnobot
Researchers at the University of Bath’s Ocean Technologies Laboratory in the Department of Mechanical Engineering have developed the Gymnobot, a biomimetic underwater robot inspired by the Amazonian knifefish, which swims using a ventral fin running the length of the underside of its rigid body. This ventral fin consists of a set of several hundred rays connected by an elastomeric film (skin). The rays are oscillated side-to-side in a phased movement to create a wave which undulates along the fin in a semi-sinusoidal fashion, propelling water backwards or forwards like a conveyor belt. This method gives it much improved thrust generation capability than a similar-sized eel. The robot’s fin is much less complex than the real fish. It consists of nine bending fin rays covered in a sheet of latex, and driven by a single motor through a pair of crankshafts. The resulting undulatory wave is not as uniform as the real fish, but the principle is ostensibly the same. The robot is also able to propel itself
The Gymnobot on a stand. The ventral fin is used to propel and manoeuvre the robot
efficiently forward or backward in the same way. The undulating wave action is understood to be more energy efficient than conventional propellers at low speed, and is particularly suitable for operating in shallow water near the sea shore, with its complex, rocky environment and plants that can tangle a propeller.
Kelp Beds
Kelp beds are essentially underwater forests. The huge plants slow down the flow of water and, in doing so, provide spatially complex habitats in the marine environment. Probably as a result of this, the biodiversity in kelp beds is significantly greater than in the areas surrounding them.
By destroying the vortices, they are effectively re-using
to use remotely operated vehicles since their tethering wires either get tangled, or so disturb the bed that the ecological measurements become distorted. There is, therefore, a need for a self-propelled, miniature autonomous vehicle able to carry a camera and other instruments to investigate kelp beds and other complex underwater habitats.
Biodiversity studies, however, are often hindered by the very presence of the plants themselves. Divers are understandably wary of entering kelp beds, as it is frighteningly easy to get hopelessly tangled in the fronds. In the same way, it is impractical
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One of the research projects being conducted with the Gymnobot is a study of the creation and development of vortices along the fin. Some fish create vortices when flicking their tails one way, but then destroy them when their tails flick back the other way.
Researchers at the University of Bath Concept drawing of the Ctenobot
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Robofish The Black Ghost Knifefish. Courtesy of Derek Ramsey
Biological AUVs
..... The Robofish. A dime (18mm dia) provides a scale
the energy in those swirling areas of water. The less energy left in the wake after the fish has passed, the less energy is wasted. Researchers are looking at how thrust is affected by changing the wave of the fin from a constant amplitude to one that is tapered at one end. What makes the Gymnobot unique is its focus on having the least number of moving parts, and consequent improved simplicity and reliability. This is in contrast to previous similar machines which have relied on multiple servo motors and complex The servo motor system inside the Gymnobot that ejects water to move the ventral fin
have looked to a small marine animal called a ctenophore, or comb jelly, for inspiration. This is similar to jellyfish, except that instead of propelling itself by jet propulsion, a ctenophore uses an oscillating set of cilia (hairs) around the outside of its bodies to create thrust. Unfortunately, the ctenophore’s propulsion system will not scale up in size, so the concept for the robot is based on a transparent ball with four undulatory fins attached to the outside, using a miniaturised version of the Gymnobot’s ventral fin propulsion system.
Researchers at the Nonlinear Dynamics and Control Lab of the University of Washington have developed the second-generation of three fin-actuated untethered autonomous vehicles. “The robofish is a simple but compact autonomous vehicle,” said Associate Professor Kristi Morgansen. “They are each powered by four servos. Two are located in the rear of the robot and power the two links of the tail assembly. The other two servos control the motion of the forward fins – their motion is fully independent of one another.”
control receiver. In small spaces such as the laboratory tank, or caves and littoral zones, noise in acoustic communication becomes prohibitive. In the case of our tank, communication has been demonstrated to be effective. Onboard programming can be used to allow the RC system to emulate the acoustic system,” said Morgansen.
To be able to orient itself, the robot has a depth gauge (a pressure sensor) and a 3-D magnetic compass. The fish is tuned to be neutrally buoyant. Due to pressure changes and compression/decompression resulting in volume changes of the vehicle, however, the buoyancy is not constant. Engineers at the laboratory are developing a buoyancy tuner to adjust buoyancy as the robot moves to different depths.
For purposes of development and testing, an instrumented tank has been built in the lab. The tank is an above-ground swimming pool 8ft deep, 8ft wide and 20ft long. Underwater cameras connected to an external computer provide the ability to track the vehicles in the water in real time.
Each vehicle contains a microprocessor to collect sensor data, to handle communication with other vehicles, and to determine control commands to the servos. “Each robot is equipped with an remote
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This data is processed for 3D position information and transmitted via RC broadcast to all vehicles in the tank. The broadcast information contains vehicle identification codes and can also include information for simulated vehicles to provide a group effectively much larger than the existing three vehicles.
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Biological AUVs
Bio AUVs Robo-Lobsters From its campus in Massachusetts, researchers at Northeastern University have developed an ambulatory vehicle based on the lobster. The robot has eight legs that allow movement in any direction. The tail and claws are used to keep the model stable in turbulent environments. In order to detect obstacles, the robot has antennae that can orientate in a similar
AquaPenguins manner to animal lobsters It can be placed in the littoral zone ocean bottom or fast-flowing rivers and can travel across irregular bottom contours, even when subject to currents and pressures surges. Practical uses are autonomous remote-sensing operations, including the ability to track down underwater mines.
The clumsy, waddling gait of penguins when they are moving slowly on an icesheet on land belie the fact that they are able to move with great celerity, agility and endurance underwater. Their staple diet is krill, the shrimplike crustacea which penguins dive great depths to hunt. Adélie penguins dive to depths of up to 350m, while emperor penguins may reach depths of 700m. Penguins can reach a top speed of almost 30km/hr when hunting, and their search for food may lead them to travel more than a 100km a day. While in a more energy-efficient migratory mode, they can still achieve speeds of around 10km/hr to 15km/hr. When re-entering the land from the sea after feeding they can often be seen leaping onto icebergs. In order to do this, they have to be particularly robust and crashproof.
Lobster robot made for the U.S. Navy at Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center. Photograph: Jan Witting
Lampreys
Northeastern University is also looking at another type of vehicle with an undulatory system based on the lamprey. This is intended for remote sensing operations in the water column and features robust depth/altitude control and high manoeuvrability. These vehicles are based on a common biomimetic control, actuator and sensor architecture
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that features highly modularised components and low cost per vehicle. Operating in concert, they can conduct autonomous investigation of both the bottom and water column of the littoral zone or rivers. These systems represent a new class of autonomous underwater vehicles that may be adapted to operations in a variety of habitats.
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Over 40 million years of evolution has left penguins perfectly contoured for underwater movement. Model testing of the hydrodynamic body shape has displayed a flow resistance 20 to 30% lower than the most favourable known technical bodies. Not only can they move fast, but they seem to do this with a low consumption of energy. Scientists looking at the metabolism of living penguins in a specially built swimming tunnel in Antarctica discovered that Adélie penguins, for example, can swim more than 180km on a full stomach (approximately 1kg of krill). This translates as: if penguins’ bodies were operated with petrol, they would thus be able to travel some 1500km through the icy Antarctic waters on just a litre of fuel.
This provided the inspiration for Festo to develop the AquaPenguin. This bionic penguin is designed as an autonomous underwater vehicle that independently orients itself and navigates through the water basin. The AquaPenguin has the same hydrodynamic body contours of its natural archetype, while its head and tail sections can be moved in all directions from the torso. It is this that enables the robotic penguins to manoeuvre in cramped spatial conditions. This independently moving head and torso is an entirely new feature in robotics. The bionic Fin Ray structure, derived from the tail fin of a fish, has thus been extended into 3D space for the first time. “The pengins’ torso design can be used in automation in a flexible tripod configuration, thereby opening up new fields of application in mechanical handling technology,” said Steve Sands, contract manager at Festo. The manoeuvres are supported by an intelligent 3D sensor system, which in this case, however, was borrowed from an entirely different group of animals. “To analyse their surroundings, the AquaPenguins’ 3D sonar makes use of broadband ultrasound signals, similar to those used by dolphins and bats. This enables them to determine their spatial position, constantly measure the distances to the walls of the water basin, avoid collisions and navigate autonomously,” he said.
Three AquaPenguins
Wing drive mechanism A separate pressure sensor is also available for operation at greater depths in free water. Some of the movement patterns have been combined into programmed elementary manoeuvres. The further processing is carried out by intelligent onboard electronics that allow the penguins to navigate autonomously and to develop versatile patterns of interaction with the other members of the group.
Specifications Overall length Dry chamber Max. torso diameter Wing span Weight in air
0.77 m 0.42 m 0.19 m 0.66 m 9.60 kg
Materials Torso laminated fibreglass- reinforced plastic Head/tail 3D Fin Ray Effect structure of stitched plastic elements Wings compound of spring steel wire, silicon, polyamide upper surface Skin polyamide, with elastane additive Lines high-tensile polyethylene fibre Principal drive electric, 12 V Gearing 43:1 Actuators Dymond DS 9900 Power supply 11.1 V, 15 Ah Operation autonomous Maximum speed 5 km/h / 2.7 kn Duration of operation 6 – 7 hours
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Wings One important feature of the AquaPenguin is its wing. The wings have a skeleton of spring steel elements embedded in an elastic matrix of silicon that gives them their characteristic profile. To emulate the animal, the mechanical wing is required to move in two ways. For steering, it needs a rotary movement, while for propulsion it also needs a special flapping motion. The wing axis passes through spherical shoulder joints connected to the torso and is also fitted with separately rotatable bearings within the sphere. The additional axis of rotation is controlled by one actuator per wing, which adjusts the wings’ pitch angles. Festo has developed a novel design using a single powerful electric motor, in which the rotational speed also controls the flapping frequency of the wings. The forces are transferred to the wings by means of a leverage system fitted with a further actuator. Slightly displacing the pivot can modify the effective length of the lever arms and thus also the transmission ratio. This in turn regulates the amplitude of the flapping wings. The entire mechanism is designed in such a way that in conjunction with the elastic wing twist, the kinematics of the penguins’ underwater flight is imitated almost perfectly, the flapping cycles are practically a self-regulating automatism and manoeuvring is effected with only a minimum of effort.
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Subsea Conferences
Subsea 2010 Conference and Exhibition
National Subsea Oil and Gas Awards Subsea UK has announced the winners of the 2010 Subsea Awards at its celebratory dinner in Aberdeen. Dominion Gas was named subsea company of the year. It has seen its annual turnover rise from £16.3 million to £32.9 million in just four years. The mooring company First Subsea won a special commendation in the category.
The emerging talent award was won by Katy Wilson, a consultant at Atkins Boreas. She has written a best practice guidance document on preserving the integrity of riser caissons. NCS Survey was rewarded for its rapid growth with the new enterprise award. The company recently acquired the survey division of SRD and has been working successfully with autonomous vehicles.
Winners at the 2010 Subsea Awards
The subsea innovation and technology award went to Atkins Boreas for its research and testing through the Safebuck joint industry project. The subsea global exports award went to Optical Metrology Services (OMS). Lastly, the lifetime achievement award went to a delighted Dr Bob Allwood, the new chief executive of the Society for Underwater Technology.
Cavitating Water Jet RGB has recently trialled the CaviDyne cleaning system offshore, and is currently negotiating exclusive arrangements to provide the system throughout the UK continental shelf. The system is capable of removing all types of marine growth, from seaweed to hard, well-attached barnacles. With this tool, however, surfaces with existing coatings, such as paint or anti-fouling coatings, are not disturbed when cleaned, and heavy metals or other contaminants are not released into the water. The principle of operation is hydrodynamic cavitation. Water is fed into the cavitation chamber and ejected throughout the nozzle. When the bubbles collapse, they create a pressure wave that
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performs the work. The system operates at relatively low pressures of 1600–3500psi. A zero-thrust system balances the gun, so that operator fatigue is minimised and there is less stress trauma or repetitive motion. The main advantage of the CaviDyne over conventional high pressure blasting or grit cleaning is its inherent safety. Not only can the system be adjusted for the removal of coatings, but the water stream will not inflict any damage to a diver or equipment which
The CaviDyne cleaning system
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may come into contact with the flow. The CaviDyne is also often more productive than conventional systems when removing marine growth. The cavitation stream pulls material from the surface being cleaned and is unaffected by the thickness of the growth. The debris cloud is greatly reduced, affording improved visibility. Traditional mechanical cleaning or pressure blasting often leaves a textured surface in which microorganisms can flourish and demand more frequent cleaning. The tool can be used with sea or fresh water on a variety of materials such as steel, concrete, wood, plastics, fibreglass and rubber.
CSL
CSL has been awarded a turnkey decommissioning project in the North Sea. This will be carried out on the Tristan North West field in block 49/29b of the southern North Sea, on behalf of Silverstone Energy/MCX Exploration. It will involve the subsea intervention and abandonment of two wells, one live and one suspended, as well as the decommissioning of the associated subsea infrastructure.
Now Recruiting This exciting, industrially relevant programme, developed in conjunction with some of the subsea sectorʼs leading firms, comprises multi-disciplinary teaching, site visits, industrially based projects and visiting industrial lecturers. The programme can be studied full time over 1 year or part-time, normally over 2-3 years. This innovative new course is aimed at: Engineering graduates wanting to specialise in a challenging area of engineering Those working in the subsea industry who want to increase their skills and knowledge Those working in another engineering sector who want to work in Subsea Those working in the engineering sector who want to combine technical expertise with management knowledge
• • • •
The work will involve environmental and engineering assessments of the decommissioning options, submission and agreement of the programme with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), completion of all permits and consents, and execution of the offshore scope of work.
For those who want to study selected areas of subsea engineering/ management for Continuing Professional Development, we will also be offering individual modules from the Masters Degree including: Fundamentals of Subsea Engineering, Materials & Corrosion Aspects of Subsea Engineering, Deepwater Pipeline Design, Subsea Project Management Application, Subsea Surveying, Positioning & Installation and Reliability & Integrity Management of Subsea Systems.
As the contract holder, CSL will manage the programme, collaborating on an exclusive basis with Helix Well Ops for the provision of well intervention, abandonment engineering and diving services, and with BMT Cordah for environmental management service, including permits, consents and assessments.
For further information visit: www.ncl.ac.uk/marine/postgrad/taught/subsea Queries: subsea@ncl.ac.uk Images courtesy of IHC Engineering Business Ltd and CTC Marine Projects
Vessel Contract Aberdeen-based specialist subsea service company DOF Subsea has been awarded a contract worth around £4.7 million by Technip, for the provision of a light construction vessel. The vessel provided will be the Skandi Bergen for BP-operated Block 31, offshore Angola. It is anticipated that the project will commence in the third quarter of 2010 and will last for approximately 100 days. Garry Millard, managing director of DOF Subsea UK, said: “This is a significant win for the company. The award of this contract demonstrates our commitment to developing the company in West Africa.”
The Skandi Bergen
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Subsea Conferences
New-build Survey Vessel Later this year, Fugro will formally take delivery of two new-build geophysical survey vessels. The first, currently undergoing sea trials, is the Fugro Searcher. This will be followed by the Fugro Galaxy. These new-builds are the first purpose-built commercial geophysical survey vessels since the Lady Harrison (renamed Antares) was built back in 1984. This venture gave Fugro the opportunity of looking at all aspects of overall survey vessel design in detail and specifying the latest equipment to make these sisterships, the most advanced vessels of their type in the world. The pair will operate in the offshore oil and gas industry and the offshore renewable energy sector. They will be able to carry out the full range of site and route survey tasks in order The Fugro Searcher undergoing sea trials to obtain the high resolution data that is necessary for safe, efficient and cost-effective subsea autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) spreads. operations associated with the installation of pipelines, At the back of each vessel stands an articulating A-frame platforms, wind turbines, subsea structures, etc. for equipment deployment. The Fugro Searcher’s frame is rated to 7.5t while the Fugro Galaxy’s will be rated to 20t. Additionally, the vessels have 3t, 12m cranes as well as pairs of 2.25t traversing deployment booms. The new vessels will have permanently mobilised geophysical and hydrographic survey spreads. Knowing the exact position of any survey is essential. The Geotechnical equipment will be installed on a project by Fugro vessels will derive precise positioning via Starfix project basis. HP/XP and Starfix Spot global positioning systems (GPS), which will be integrated with HiPAP 500 USBL subsea Geophysical survey equipment will include Kongsberg acoustic systems. Each will also have an Applanix EM302 and EM3002 multibeam echo sounders on the PosMV 320 motion reference unit. Fugro Searcher and an EM710 on the Fugro Galaxy. Each will have a Kongsberg EA600/EA400 singleThe vessels will be conned with a range of bridge beam echo-sounder. They will also have Edgetech instruments including autopilot, radars, a GPS navigator, dual frequency 4200 digital sidescan sonars. The gyros and echo sounders. Both vessels will have automatic Fugro Searcher will be fitted with a Kongsberg SBP300 static station-keeping capabilities. Communications systems sub bottom profiler, while the Fugro Galaxy will get a include broadband via VSAT, medium/high frequency radios, Kongsberg TOPAS PS40 sub-bottom profiler. All ancillary Inmarsat B and C, VHF and weather forecasting radios. and calibration instrumentation will be available. A major feature of the new vessels is that they will be able to A seismic airgun array of up to 970m3 will be used to take advantage of all the safety and efficiency advances in generate the seismic waves that are reflected by the ship design that have been made in recent years. The latest subsurface sedimentary rock layers and picked up by safety and survival systems are a fundamental and integral a solid digital streamer extending up to 4000m behind part of the vessels’ equipment. Personal locator beacons and the vessel. The seismic data will be recorded on a direction-finding equipment are worn for an unlikely Hydroscience Technologies NTRS2 240-channel recorder. man-overboard event.
Equipment
A variety of geotechnical equipment such as vibrocorers, grab samplers and cone penetrometers are also available. For survey operations in deep water, the vessels have the necessary deck space to accommodate any of Fugro’s
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While the speed of geophysical surveys is dictated largely by the laws of physics, the top speed of 12.8kts ensures that the vessels can get to the site quickly. A fuel capacity of 387m3 gives a range of 6000 nautical miles at 10kts. Range and
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Data Buoy
OSIL’s data buoy
OSIL will showcase a number of products at Oceanology International, including the Shearwater data buoy. Designed to be completely adaptable to a wide range of applications, it can withstand the harshest of conditions because of its robust construction. endurance are thereby optimal and time on site maximised. The vessels have a fresh water storage capacity of 100m3 and there are facilities for making 8m3 of fresh water per day. The diesel electric propulsion is based on three 910kW engines. The vessels will be driven by a pair of Schottel, SRP 110 rudder propellers while type 49/122/290 bow thrusters enable manoeuvring and station keeping. Computer control will enable the vessels to automatically remain static over a designated spot or follow an ROV as it conducts it survey work. The specially designed hull form, resilient engine mounts and rudder propeller design will maximise station keeping and navigational control, ensure acoustically quiet running at survey speeds and keep the vessels’ carbon footprints to a minimum. The vessels’ sea keeping qualities enable them to stay on location, minimising weather standby time. There is ample space in the 65m long vessel for work and recreation. Accommodation is provided for 42 people in en-suite single and double cabins. Recreation areas include two lounges, video room, gym and internet cafe. A first class working environment is ensured for survey and marine crew members alike. Several 10GBase-T networks will provide the survey systems with full plug-and-play interconnectivity, allowing any user multiple access points to any data acquisition and data processing requirement. There is a data processing room that allows the data to be interpreted onboard without it having to be transmitted to shore. This is essential for time sensitive applications where survey results are essential to keep to the critical path of the development or project. “These units represent initial steps in a global vessel replacement schedule with the objective of removing older tonnage from our fleet and clearly differentiating Fugro’s offshore survey division from other providers who lack the financial resources to take such necessary steps.” said Phil Meaden, managing director of Fugro Survey.
OSIL is also showing its rapid deployment buoy, designed for use in applications where data needs to be obtained rapidly, for instance, where other data collection systems are out of action for short periods of time. This small, lightweight buoy is designed for up to four weeks of constant use and carries a small solar panel.
Plankton Counter ODIM Brooke Ocean won an order from the Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institute, Institute for Baltic Sea Fisheries, for an ODIM laser optical plankton counter (LOPC). It will be integrated with a MacArtney Triaxus towed vehicle. The Institute of Baltic Sea Research will be taking delivery of the ODIM LOPC spring of 2010. The ODIM LOPC is the next generation in plankton profiling. Its high speed processing and improved detection plane provides detection counts at higher resolutions and higher concentrations with lower coincidence. The system can be installed on various tow-body scenarios as ODIM’s optical plankton counter well as on the ODIM moving vessel profiler multi sensor free fall fish, enabling vertical real-time water column profiling while underway at speeds up to 12kts.
Motion Reference Kongsberg Seatex will present the fifth generation of its motion reference unit (MRU) at Oi10. The MRU 5+ builds on the already cutting-edge technology employed in previous generations and takes roll, pitch and heave measurements closer to perfection than ever before, with documented roll and pitch accuracy of 0.01deg. Kongsberg Seatex will also exhibit the new position, attitude and heading sensor, Seapath 330+, which is designed specifically for the hydrographic market and other high precision applications where heading, position, roll, pitch, heave and timing are critical measurements. By combining GPS/global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) and inertial data, Seapath 330+ provides robust integrity monitoring and more precise operation, particularly in highly obstructed environments. Kongsberg Seatex’s motion reference unit
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Subsea Conferences
Marine Data Management Oceanology International ’10 will see the release of the latest version of SeaZone GeoTemporal Editor, an innovative software solution to improve and simplify the management, analysis and presentation of geographic and environmental data where time is an important component. SeaZone GeoTemporal Editor manages tide, current and wave datasets captured from acoustic doppler profilers, together with other oceanographic, hydrographic and meteorological information such as water quality and wind speed data. The software allows the import of custom datasets and links to geoseismis information system (GIS) and external databases, bringing a wide variety of data together for further spatial analysis and improved reporting and decision making. Many organisations face the challenges of capturing, using and managing complex survey and environmental monitoring data, often relying on high end programming expertise and specialist software, which can be costly and inflexible. SeaZone’s GeoTemporal software provides marine surveyors, engineers, scientists, researchers, data managers and consultants with a new generation of tools to navigate and browse environmental data. Through an easy-to-use interface, users can import, quality control, visualise, analyse and present data from multiple sources. Additional capabilities allow export of data in open formats for further use in GIS.
Saab Seaeye is formally launching its Cougar XTi electric remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Pioneering technology means the vehicle can go deeper and has a smaller launch system, a thinner umbilical, clearer interface, smarter fault diagnostics, easier configuration and tighter piloting. Managing Director Dave Grant sees the innovative new vehicle opening up a whole new market for the concept of a combined inspection and light work-ROV.
possible with the new Cougar XTi. Pilots get fault diagnostics through a simplified man/machine interface that interprets the fault data for them before clearly displaying the problem and the remedial action to be taken.
“Operating to 3000m depth, the Cougar XTi can perform tasks independently, or in support of a construction class hydraulic ROV.” He said it also brings important cost savings in deck space with a compact, single skid solution for the launch and recovery system (LARS).
Clever system integration makes the ROV more software driven than hardware dependent and therefore easier to reconfigure for different operational roles. It means different task-specific tooling skids can be readily added and changed as needed, along with custom designed options for specific operational needs.
Shrinking the LARS came from a breakthrough by Saab Seaeye engineers who managed to reduce the umbilical from a typical 32mm down to 20mm. The thinner umbilical not only significantly reduces the winch drum size, but also offers considerably less drag in the water in strong currents. They achieved the reduction by boosting the voltage from 500V to 3000V with only one power line rather than two, needed to feed the system. The 800Hz high frequency power distribution system also cuts the size of the ROV’s onboard transformer by 80% and improves the vehicle’s power-to-weight ratio giving an 80kg payload at 3000m.
Developments
Left: Illustration of GeoTemporal Spatial tools with typical contour and chainage chart plots (right and bottom).
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Cougar
Other key developments include a fault tolerant system that isolates any failed component and allows the ROV to keep working at its designated task. A greater range of deep water applications is
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Such tooling can include manipulator packages, anvil and disc cutters, water-jetting equipment, torque tools, survey packages with camera booms, drill support and inspection, repair and maintenance tooling.
XTi
FASTtracka II
The ROV also has a new autopilot system that gives the pilot more precise positioning of the vehicle by automatically holding depth and heading in much tighter parameters than ever before. The Cougar XTi is an upgrade of the long proven Cougar concept, with breakthrough technology introduced from Saab Seaeye’s flagship Jaguar electric work-ROV. “The Cougar XTi opens up a whole new market for the concept of a combined inspection and light work-ROV,” said Grant. “Providing operation to 3000m depth the Cougar XTi can either perform tasks independently or provide support for the work of construction class hydraulic ROVs.”
Specialist contractor, DOF Subsea, has taken delivery of the new 3000mrated Cougar XTi ROV, which will be permanently commissioned aboard a specially built DOF Subsea vessel, along with two hydraulic work-class vehicles. The vessel has been constructed in Norway and will operate offshore in Brazil for Light Well Intervention. The onboard launch and recovery system (LARS) has been built by ODIM, and includes active heave compensation.
A discharge of Triclosan at a concentration of 22.6µg/l was detected by one of a number of FASTtracka systems within an ongoing evaluation programme, involving UK sites operated by Veolia Water, United Utilities and Scottish Water, plus one site within the US. All FASTtracka II sensors within this trial were installed at the water intake of pumping stations, with natural flora providing the target material for FRR measurements. The RAG algorithm provides a clear display of the water condition and alarms when a contamination event is detected. Since each FRR sequence requires only 2.7ms, the system can provide very high temporal resolution (currently set at one acquisition per minute), whilst allowing for use of a very low maintenance, flowthrough arrangement.
Brazilian Cougar
The Cougar XTi
A contamination event at a UK water pumping station was successfully detected by the Chelsea Technologies FASTtracka II system. The event was automatically detected using the FASTtracka II, fast repetition rate (FRR) chlorophyll a fluorometer combined with a novel red, amber, green (RAG) algorithm, which has been developed to provide continuous, real-time protection for water supplies at the pre-treatment stage.
Subsea Conferences
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Using data from the evaluation programme, the RAG algorithm now has been developed to the point where it provides extremely effective rejection of false positives, whilst maintaining high sensitivity to contamination events. Dr Kevin Oxborough presented results from the evaluation programme to a special interest group from UK water companies, at a meeting hosted by Veolia Water. Other features of the system discussed included the self-cleaning design of the sample chamber, the ability to function at high turbidity levels, the extremely high dynamic range and the real-time measurement of chlorophyll a concentration. The potential for using FRR technology for algal bloom detection was also discussed.
FASTtracka II system
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Subsea Conferences
Intruder Detection Sonardyne International has won a contract worth in excess of €1.5 million with an EU research consortium for the supply of multiple Sentinel Intruder Detection Sonars (IDS). The Sentinels will be integrated into a new maritime command and control network that will combine satellite, sonar, CCTV and other sensor data to protect shipping, ports and harbours and critical infrastructure. This will help guard against a wide range of waterborne threats including those from unidentified ships where the port of call is in question. Sentinel IDS systems are operational worldwide protecting both commercial and military assets, critical energy and civilian infrastructure, VIPs and maritime borders. The system uses advanced sonar technology to provide a 360 degree, below water protection zone that can discriminate between genuine targets such as divers and swimmers and non-threats such as large fish or pleasure craft. Sentinel has been designed specifically for ease of use by security
Tracking personnel and to meet the practical requirements of every day use. The Sentinels for the new European contracts will be deployed to protect strategic shipping assets and in several European ports over the next six months to automatically detect, track and classify underwater threats at long ranges. The equipment being supplied will include Sonardyne’s latest sustained immersion sonar head which has been introduced for permanent, maintenance free installation as well as portable configuration Sentinels for rapid deployment from vessels visiting foreign ports. Rob Balloch, strategic development director for Sonardyne said, “We have worked very closely with our EU partners to meet their requirements for a diver detection sonar that will offer high performance in some very challenging operational scenarios.” “The award of this contract demonstrates the strong confidence in both the capabilities of Sentinel and Sonardyne’s ability to provide innovative technology coupled with class-leading project and technical support.”
Applied Acoustics has complemented its series of Easytrak ulata short base line (USBL) tracking systems with a new small, compact version. Known as Easytrak Alpha, it is following on only shortly after the launch of the Easytrak Nexus in 2009. The Nexus, with its spread spectrum technology, is a rugged rack-mount system able to track up to 10 target beacons, while Alpha meets the need of limited operations, such as small ROV surveys or basic diver tracking. For deeper water sub-bottom profiling surveys, Applied Acoustics now offers a 12kJ power source, the latest and largest of its range of CSP power supplies. Housed in a 21U robust case, it is ideal for use in marine sparker operations, specifically with the multi-tip Delta Sparker, and will be used in higher penetration or geohazard ssessment.
Easytrak Alpha
CPT Coastline Surveys has launched its newly commissioned seabed CPT unit ‘C-Pen20’. The new concept in cone penetration test (CPT) operations has been designed specifically to meet the requirements for seabed soil investigation for subsea cable networks in connection with offshore renewable energy projects. Using a standard 5cm² piezocone the system has proven capability to penetrate up to 3m below the seabed, providing real-time in situ measurement of soil properties and stratigraphy. C-Pen20 has been designed to operate in conjunction with their range of high-powered vibrocoring systems from their dedicated 24m multirole survey vessel MV Flat Holm. Developed in conjunction with GeoMarine, C-Pen20 uses a unique hydraulic drive mechanism providing up to 20kN of total thrust. Data collected by the cone is transmitted directly to an onboard computer, where it is processed and interpreted by a specialist engineer. This rapid onboard interpretation helps optimal installation route design with considerable cost savings.
Sentinel Intruder Detection Sonar System
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Mojave Sub-Atlantic will launch its latest generation Mojave ROV, perhaps the most powerful observation remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for its size. The highly advanced machine has been built to an extremely high specification using the very latest in ‘off the shelf’ miniaturised PC technology. The result is an extremely compact, robust, easily maintained and easy to transport vehicle which comes with camera and LED lighting within the base specification. Operating to a 300m depth rating as standard with 1000m option, it is also available to operate from a tether management system (TMS) making it the ideal vehicle for numerous subsea missions. Available for sale and rental, this ROV can also use any domestic power supply and features subCAN, the advanced control and diagnostics telemetry software/
Sub-Atlantic’s new Mojave ROV
hardware which has been re-designed to operate within a vehicle and surface control unit package that can fit in the back of an average sized hatchback car.
It is well suited to scientific, port security, military and civil engineering missions, diver safety cover, internal and external pipeline inspection, among other missions, making it one of the most adaptable vehicles on the market.
The Mojave can be supplied with a complete range of specialist tooling and sensor skids for use on offshore and inshore projects, including jacket inspection, multibeam survey, hydraulic manipulation, dynamic positioning, cleaning and non-destructive testing (NDT) inspection, water sample collection and under-hull surveillance.
Swedish survey company Marin Mätteknik AB (MMT AB) will be showcasing two Mojave units on its booth at the show. These were purchased after seeing the design specification alone and joined the companies existing fleet of Sub-Atlantic Comanche and Mohican systems.
As well as recording water level, TideMaster can be provided with an optional ultrasonic wind speed and direction sensor to record meteorological data.
bracket is provided for wall mounting use.
Tide Gauge Valeport has launched TideMaster, a compact water level recorder. It is designed for use in a wide range of fixed or portable survey and tide monitoring operations. Suitable for use in fresh or salt water, TideMaster is highly accurate and can be deployed for up to a year at a time. Sales manager, Kevin Edwards, commented, “TideMaster is an extremely versatile and cost effective new product. It replaces the popular Model 740, and whilst it retains the easy to use features, a lot more enhancements have been made with further provision for additions in the future.” Low power consumption, with both pre-programmed and a user selectable sampling regime, allow for up to a year of autonomous operation, whilst optional telemetry packages provide capabilities for real- time operation.
Subsea Conference
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TideMaster can be set up and data retrieved via an optional control/ display panel that uses organic LED technology, Bluetooth and an SD memory card. Alternatively, it can be plugged into a PC and controlled using Valeport’s Windows based software, TideMaster Express. This allows the user to download and display recorded or real-time data from single or multiple gauges. TideMaster is also compatible with a wide range of hydrographic software and tools on the market. Valeport’s bespoke injection moulded housing is rated to IP67 and allows a tool free change of batteries without exposure to the main electronics. A practical and lockable mounting
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The Valeport TideMaster
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Subsea Conferences
SeaBat Contract Aberdeen-based Dynamic Positioning Services has awarded Reson a contract for a SeaBat 7125-ROV dual frequency 200/400kHz, 6km depth rated. This sonar has been acquired for the rental market.
SeaBat 7125-ROV dual frequency 200/400kHz
Dynamic Positioning Services is involved in the sales, rental, calibration and repair of marine electronic equipment for survey, construction, ROV, geophysical and environmental sensors. It carries an impressive inventory and are able to offer a complete service, tailored to its customers’ specific project requirements.
The SeaBat 7125-ROV is a valuable sonar system to the offshore industry and is a market leader in its field. The sonar system operates with a dual frequency of 200kHz or 400kHz, with an effective swath angle of 128deg and a very high depth resolution of 6mm due to its beamforming capabilities and individual beam angle of 0.5deg by 1.0deg. The SeaBat 7125 features equi-angle and equi-distance amongst other efficiency enhancing features, and the system can be mounted on a ROV or installed on any vessel. The dual frequency provides seamless coverage from 0.5 to 500m depth and is thus ideal for a variety of offshore and hydrographic applications in the North Sea. Ross Macleod, the technical director of Dynamic Positioning Services, said, “The SeaBat 7125-ROV adds another multibeam system to our family of SeaBats already available from our rental pool. With this latest addition we believe we can now service the offshore market more efficiently for the ever increasing demand for high resolution multibeam systems.”
Gemini Reduces Operation Time Tritech’s Gemini 720i imaging sonar has been recently used in the harsh environments of the southern north sea (SNS). Marine Subsea (formally TS Marine) recently underwent an abandonment campaign in SNS locations where the shallow water depth, low visibility and strong currents provided a challenging environment for this type of work. Gemini 720i’s fast update rate and high resolution imaging contributed to Marine Services’ reduced operations time during Phase 1 of the campaign. Its real-time imaging provided a good viewing platform to assist with the deployment of the Baker Hughes well head abandonment straddle packer tool and the subsequent plugging of the well.
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SeaBat 7112
Reson has also delivered a SeaBat 7112 system to Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei (WASS) of Italy, part of the Finmeccanica group of companies. The device will be used in conjunction with other WASS and SELEX systems as part of a harbour security system. SeaBat 7112 multibeam sonar system for diver detection consists of a circular array and projector ensonifying a cylindrical volume of water up to 1000m range. Designed to detect small targets such as divers with closed circuit re-breather equipment, the system will track and alert operators of their presence on a geo-referenced map of the area.
Tritech’s Gemini 720i imaging sonar
Gemini 720i was deployed on a Perry Slingsby XLS 150hp work-class ROV, supplied by underwater vehicle contractor, Specialist Subsea Services, (formally Oceanteam). The sonar’s integrated sound velocity sensor and high resolution imaging provided the sharpest image with accurate ranging. The Perry Slingsby XLS ROV with a Gemini sonar
This gave the ROVs pilot a higher level of awareness in poor flying conditions. Gemini 720i’s wide 120deg field of view allowed the ROV pilots to fly the vehicle into confined spaces with greater confidence. Grant Cowie, subsea team leader, Marine Subsea, commented, “Gemini 720i has a greater and improved acoustic range and resolution capability compared to other multibeam sonars in the same class. Its real-time capabilities allowed us to dramatically reduce operations time during phase one of our abandonment campaign in SNS.”
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Subsea Conferences
A forward-looking sonar, from Guernsey-based Marine Electronics, has been installed aboard a Britishoperated tanker as a major initiative to refine operational safety. The See Echo system was developed by Marine Electronics in cooperation with the ship owner to provide a three-dimensional image of the sea up to 1km ahead of the vessel. It is now undergoing a trials programme which, if successful, will result in its installation aboard other ships in the company’s substantial fleet. It is intended to provide an extra margin of safety against grounding. Unlike conventional sonars that look down from the ship and show the seabed directly beneath the keel, the See Echo looks ahead to provide an advance warning of any obstacles. It consists of two arrays that scan the sea ahead through a vertical arc of 20deg and horizontally through a sector of 90deg. They are linked by fibre-optic cable to a dedicated high definition touch-screen computer display on the ship’s bridge. The images from the two arrays are combined to create a 3D representation of the sea ahead that can also be viewed with an electronic chart overlay. The display shows
The See Echo system in a bulbous bow
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Echoscope
Obstacle Avoidance Sonar underwater objects, where they are in relation to the ship’s approach and their depth below the surface. The system also provides a movable ‘camera’ viewpoint and is available with the option of target tracking and with a range of up to 1km. Installation of the See Echo on an operational tanker has been prompted by the enormous costs that can be incurred by operators if a ship goes aground or is damaged in such a way as to cause pollution. Despite the comprehensive nature of modern hydrography, uncharted areas are known to persist. These can be responsible for costly groundings such as that experienced by the ship QE2 in 1992 when she hit a rocky seabed that had remained uncharted in busy waters off Martha’s Vineyard, USA. The See Echo will also provide an alert for partially submerged objects such as cargo containers of which an estimated 10 000 are lost overboard every year. The sonar will also register the presence of whales and other sea mammals that are in the path of the ship. Because the See Echo provides a 3D image, it has also been found very helpful for ships operating in sea ice. The display reveals the thickness of the ice sheet ahead and enables the ship’s master to decide whether it is possible to sail through it safely. This is expected to prove particularly important for cruise ships that are undertaking voyages into polar waters. The sinking of the cruise ship Explorer in 2007 confirmed the environmental and passenger safety risks that need to be guarded against. The system was fitted inside the bulbous bow of the tanker during a recent dry-docking in Dubai. Installation required the design and construction of a sea chest, or water filled cavity, inside the bow to accommodate the two sonar arrays. An exceptionally strong acoustic window a little over 1m2 has been made from a kevlar and carbonfibre composite and fitted into the bow so that the transmissions from the sonar can leave and return to the ship unhindered.
Echoscope placement in crane arm
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CodaOctopus has received an order from Van Oord for the supply of an Echoscope 3D real-time sonar system. The order follows Van Oord’s purchase of Echoscope systems in 2008, which were deployed successfully on the Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) port expansion project in Qatar. The sonar, built on patented Echoscope technology, will be incorporated into Van Oord’s existing pool of units. In central Amsterdam the Echoscope system is being used to visualise live underwater excavation operations as part of the construction of a new metro station. Situated directly beneath the existing Amsterdam Central Station, the new metro system runs north-south across the city and will carry 200 000 passengers each day. The existing station is built on hundreds of large oak pilings which are to be carefully removed during the construction project. The unique technology of the Echoscope enables the accurate real-time 3D visualisation of the pilings during the removal process and the dredging of the chamber around them. It will also be used in the construction of Maasvlakte as part of the Rotterdam Mainport Development Project. In this project, the Echoscope system provides crane operators with critical real-time visualisation during the removal of the existing concrete breakwater structure and the construction of replacement walls.
The Echoscope
5900 multi beam side scan with swath bathymetry
Go Wider L-3 Klein has continued to work on the insertion of its advanced sidescan sonar technologies into an ever increasing family of high performance sonar products. The most recent of these is the System 5900 multi beam sidescan with swath bathymetry. The System 5900 has been developed for critical port and harbour security applications as well as mine countermeasure (MCM) and route clearance survey applications. This sonar uses advanced Interferometric signal processing to produce simultaneous estimates of the seabed topography and sidescan data. The L-3 Klein System 5900 employs a higher number of acoustic channels and a higher frequency to produce superior images and alongtrack resolution. This is extremely advantageous when performing critical missions involving littoral waters (ports and harbours) and rapid area assessments. In addition, due to
shallow water requiring a short scope of tow cable, L-3 Klein’s proprietary beam steering and image stabilisation has been introduced to overcome angular perturbations and artdefacts caused by motion. The System 5900 is designed for use on unmanned autonomous surface vessels and incorporates capabilities to allow remote control and real-time data collection and transmission of image data to a land-based operation centre for evaluation and target identification. This basically means that an MCM mission can be accomplished without placing a man in a mine field. L-3 Klein has demonstrated that the images of the seabed within a port or harbour can be transmitted over a wireless network to an operations and security centre for assessment and action. The full capability of the new L-3 Klein System 5900 was successfully demonstrated last
month to the US Office of Naval Research in the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, harbour. It showed that if an explosive device, whether it was a mine or an underwater improvised explosive device (UIED), deployed in a port or harbour, it can be identified and the data is automatically transported via a wireless RF link to the local port security office. L-3 Klein teamed with Fidelity Comtech, a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) supplier of wireless local area network (WLAN) technology using its Phocus steerable phased array system to transmit the sidescan sonar imaging data from the moving vessel to the land-based office. L-3 Klein then coupled this side scan technology with its commercially available HarborGuard system, which provides detection and tracking of all surface vessels and floating objects in the area of interest.
At home in the ocean Easytrak Nexus is the second generation USBL tracking system from Applied Acoustics. With Broadband Spread Spectrum technology at its heart, Nexus has the ability to transfer digital data from subsea to surface, all the while continuing to provide secure and stable positioning information in challenging environments. Versatile, flexible and simple to install and operate, Easytrak Nexus is tracking, made easy.
Nexus USBL Acoustic Tracking System Broadband Spread Spectrum Technology Digital Data Telemetry Multiple Target Tracking
+44 (0)1493 440355
:
general@appliedacoustics.com UT3 1Q 2010
:
www.appliedacoustics.com
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Subsea Conferences
Exhibitions AOG 2010
UTC 2010
Dates 24-25 March 2010, Location: Perth
Dates 21-22 April 2010 Location: Bergen
Chevron is set to outline its plans for the subsea developments of the giant Gorgon and Wheatstone projects during one of six topical seminars at the Subsea Australasia Conference in Perth from 24-25 March. AOG 10 will be Australia’s largest subsea event, which is expected to attract up to 450 delegates including local and overseas decision makers from the subsea industry. A highlight of the two day conference program will be a half day seminar coordinated by Subsea Energy Australia (SEA) and Subsea UK (SUK) which will explore the opportunities of upcoming subsea projects in Australasia, including the massive Gorgon and Wheatstone projects. During this seminar session, leading oil and gas operator Chevron, engineering giant Clough and the newly formed Pipeline Repair Operators Forum (PROFA) will be invited to outline their plans for the region. Another program feature is a full day seminar on Geophysics and Geohazards, featuring presentations from twelve key industry leaders. “Western Australia’s Department of Mines and Petroleum has estimated there will be more than $148 billion in project expenditure on WA gas related developments alone in the coming decade, so this half-day seminar will be of interest to all those with a vested interest in the future of Australia’s oil and gas industry,” said Bill Hare, Exhibition Director of the Australasian Oil and Gas Exhibition (AOG). Incorporating both technical and
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business development streams, the Subsea Australasia Conference will launch on Wednesday 24 March with two half-day seminars examining Australasia subsea markets and subsea systems engineering. In the first, Subsea UK and SEA will gaze into the crystal ball to forecast growth potential for the Australasian subsea market. Speakers for this session include John Westwood from Douglas Westwood Limited and Julian Callanan of Infield Systems Limited. The afternoon sessions will include a seminar on long distance tiebacks. This will feature international insights, with Stian Karlsen from Nexans, Norway, scheduled to speak on the topic of dynamic deep water power cables. Day two of the conference will take a closer look at new subsea technical challenges in Australia.
UTC 2010 will be the 16th Underwater Technology Conference in Bergen. More than 500 delegates and exhibitors are expected to attend the event. In the morning, there will be the opening and keynote address, then the conference will get underway with Margaret Øvrum, executive Vice President of Statoil discussing Deeper, longer, colder - developing solutions to cross energy frontiers. Subsea technologies in challenging scenarios will be discussed by Solange Guedes, executive vice president E&P, Petrobras , and Unlocking deepwater reserves using subsea pressure boosting technology by Ian Breckels, Managing Director of Shell Technology Norway. Daniel Plathey, vice president, technologies at Total will talk about Deepwater developments - moving forward: The essential combination of existing field experience and the need for innovation and new technologies.
Will Acworth, from GE Oil & Gas will provide an update on key technologies, capabilities and innovations that could potentially make a significant contribution to the success of subsea developments.
Melody Meyer, president of ETC - Technology division, Chevron, will talk about Unlocking the Underwater Hydrocarbon Potential’.
Paul Handidaja from Braemar Falconer Pte Ltd will deliver the keynote address for the concluding one-day seminar on geophysics and geohazards. This seminar promises to bring to the forefront the importance of geophysical methods for identifying and mitigating hazards in the marine environment.
Completion and Well Intervention Ormen Lange tree on wire; Subsea well intervention. Learning from the past –planning for the future; Subsea well service vessels; Valves–the good, the bad and the ugly and n-Tegrity–advanced subsea well control technology.
A joint initiative between SEA, Subsea UK, the Society for Underwater Technology and AOG, the Subsea Australasia Conference is being held in conjunction with AOG 2010 at Perth Convention Exhibition Centre.
UT3 1Q 2010
The afternoon sessions include
Marine Operations Deepwater subsea lifting operations; Manned underwater intervention during deepwater operations, Combining time domain analysis and CFD for subsea lifts; Hywind floating wind turbine project and Ormen Lange hot tap, a world record.
Subsea Processing The world’s first subsea wet gas compressor; Qualification of a novel deepwater gas/liquid separator; Hybrid pump for the Pazflor deepwater development; Tyrihans subsea raw seawater injection and Oil free high speed motor for compressor drive. Wellheads, Xmas trees, Manifolds and Structures Slender wells and new subsea solutions for increased oil recovery; Subsea building blocks for slender wells and Subsea MMX solution. Only the colour has not been challenged. Flow Assurance Islay flow assurance challenges: Seabed conditioning and heat tracing; Vega flow assurance system and Pipeline heating systems for continuous operation. Inspection, Maintenance and Repair Kvitebjørn gas pipeline repair – baptism of remote pipeline repair system; You get what you inspect, not what you expect! An effective hull IMR Plan; Mooring Lines Monitoring System. Umbilicals and Flowlines Gjøa subsea power cable project. A green solution, Extending the cost efficiency of rigid reel pipelaying and Flexible risers, pleasure and pain. HPHT Vega HPHT field development; Challenges for ultra HPHT subsea tree system solutions and A new deepwater multiphase and wet gas flowmeter for HPHT. Integrated Operations Real Time The copper cable is not dead; Subsea wireless communications for enhanced production monitoring and Subsea leak detection systems - recommended practice.
The day before UTC, the Society for Underwater Technology have organised a Crash Course in Subsea Markets. It is aimed at investors, financial experts and employees as well as CEOs, CFOs and sales managers in subsea or affiliated businesses. The intent is to provide information and knowledge to be used by the participants in the future for investments in subsea/deepwater companies, to provide a thorough understanding of market opportunities, constraints and risk, and to enhance knowledge suitable for strategic market entry/exit decision processes. Welcome: Bergen subsea cluster Henning Nordgulen, Director Corporate Division, Sparebanken Vest Geir Evensen, Chairman SUT Norway Trond Olsen, Gen. Manager NCE
UDT EUROPE 2010 Dates 8-10 June 2010, Location: Hamburg, German This year the focus of the Underwater Defence Technology Conference is on preparing for the future by identifying today the factors that are shaping tomorrow’s landscape and in this context, the theme for the Opening Keynote Address will be ‘Meeting the Requirements for the next decade’. The conference themes for UDT Europe 2010 are Unmanned Underwater Vehicles
Setting the scene – Subsea and deepwater market development Jarand Rystad, Partner Rystad Energy
Network Centric Warfare and
Global deepwater markets – opportunities for Norwegian Industry Petter Narvestad, Partner - Equity Research, Fondsfinans
Combat Systems
Global Subsea Market –Spends and Trends 2010-2014 Howard Wright, Analytical Services Manager, Infield Systems
Communication Imaging Sonars Maritime Security and Force Protection Tasks and Means in Littoral Operations Weapons and Countermeasures Life Support and Rescue
Basic elements and understanding of a subsea system Arne B. Riple, Vice President Aker Solutions Subsea
Non Acoustic Sensors
Risk assessments in Subsea Developments Terje Skogen, Asset Manager, FMC Technologies
Monitoring
Deepwater Marine Operations – challenges and market opportunities Stuart Fitzgerald, Managing Director, Acergy Norway
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Subsea Conferences
.....
Submarines and Submarine Systems Environmental Effects and Operation Navigation Training and ASW Mine Warfare and Countermeasures
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Field Development
Field Development Van Gogh
Hello Muda
Oil production has commenced at Apache’s Van Gogh development in Production License WA-35-L in the Exmouth Basin, offshore Western Australia.
Thailand’s PTTEP has begun producing natural gas from its Muda and Jengka fields. Initial rates reached 135million ft3/d gas and 4900b/d of condensate, and output is targeted to reach 135million ft3/d by the end of the year.
Apache, the Van Gogh field operator, owns a 52.5-percent interest in the Van Gogh field with INPEX owning the remaining interest. Van Gogh is located 32 miles (53 km) northnorthwest of Exmouth. “Production from Van Gogh is projected to ramp up during the first half of the year, making a significant contribution to Apache’s growth in 2010,” said Rod Eichler, co-chief operating officer and president International. Van Gogh, discovered in 2003, is Apache’s first field development utilizing a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. The field was developed with 19 horizontal production laterals, two water injection wells and one gas injection well. The total horizontal interval drilled for all of the production wells exceeds 106,000 feet (32 km). The Ningaloo Vision FPSO has capacity to process 150,000 barrels of liquids per day, including 63,000 barrels of oil per day, and store 540,000 barrels of oil.
The Muda and Jengka field is located offshore in the Gulf of Thailand approximately 150 km Northeast to Kota Bharu, 250 km East of Songkhla province and 350 km North of Kemaman Supply Base (KSB) in waterdepth of ranging between 55-65m in contract area of Block B-17 in the Joint Development Area. Van Gogh development
Apache also has agreed to supply gas from its Julimar and Brunello discoveries to Chevron’s Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub and become a foundation equity partner in the project, unlocking an estimated 2.1 trillion cubic feet of gross gas reserves from two of Apache’s largest discoveries. Apache holds a 65percent interest in the discoveries. A final investment decision on the first phase of the Wheatstone project is slated for 2011.
Initial production from Van Gogh highlights Australia’s role in Apache’s worldwide production growth. Pyrenees, another Apache Exmouth Basin oil development, operated by BHP Billiton Petroleum, is scheduled to come on line during the first half of 2010. The two projects are expected to add combined peak production of 40,000 barrels per day net to Apache. In 2011, Apache expects to commence production from the Reindeer Field discovery through the Devil Creek processing plant - Western Australia’s first new domestic natural gas processing hub in Western Australia in more than 15 years. Devil Creek is forecasted to increase Western Australia’s domestic natural gas production capacity by up to 20 percent. Muda and Jengka
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UT3 1Q 2010
MTJDA-B17 project consists of B-17, C-19 and B-17-01 blocks covering 8000km2 in the Gulf of Thailand. Four appraisal wells drilled and additional petroleum reserves assessment were carried out in 2006. The Muda and Jengka field development project consists of four wellhead platforms (Muda-A [MDA], Muda-B [MDB], Muda-C [MDC] and Jengka-A [JKA]), Muda central processing platform (MDPP) and living quarters (MDLQ), flare tripod and FSO Ratu Songkhla
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Field Development
Field Development Kitan Bluewater has received a letter of award from ENI for the chartering, operation and maintenance of the upgraded FPSO Glas Dowr, complete with mooring system including provision of logistics and ancillary services for Kitan. The Kitan field is situated in the joint petroleum development area (JPDA), approximately 170km south of the Timor-Leste coast and 500km north of the Australian coast, and is located in around 344m of water depth. It is located in the permit 06-105 – an area jointly administered by Timor-Leste and Australia. The contract has a minimum term of five years after start of production and can be extended up to 10 years.
The upgraded FPSO Glas Dowr
Guara Petrobras, with its partners BG and Repsol, has signed a letter of intent with engineering consortium of Schahin and Modec for the chartering of a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for the Guara prospect in the Santos basin pre-salt Block BM-S-9. The agreements cover a 20-year lifespan and the field is expected to go onstream in late 2012. Guara holds between 1.1 and 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The FPSO, is capable of producing 120 000 barrels of oil and 5 million m3 of gas per day. The FPSO calls for 65% local content. The hull will be converted abroad, but its several modules integrated in Brazil.
Aseng SBM Offshore has signed a contract with Noble Energy for the provision, lease and operation of a FPSO for the development of the Aseng field, located in Block I offshore Equatorial Guinea, at a water depth of approximately 1000m. Technip has also been awarded a lump sum contract by Noble Energy for Aseng. Technip’s scope includes engineering, supply, installation and precommissioning of the 30km flexible pipe system, including six flexible risers and flexible flowlines and jumpers. The contract also includes the installation of the subsea production system, including manifolds, flying leads and umbilicals. These umbilicals will be fabricated by Duco, Technip’s wholly owned subsidiary in Houston, Texas, under a separate contract. Technip’s operating centre in Paris, France, will execute this contract. All flexible pipes will be fabricated at the group’s plant in Le Trait, France. Offshore installation is scheduled to be carried out mid-2011 using Technip’s deepwater construction vessel Deep Pioneer.
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Papa Terra
Chevron’s Brazilian subsidiary will proceed with the development of the Papa Terra project as the company’s second deepwater development offshore Brazil. When completed, it will represent Chevron’s largest investment in Brazil to date and is expected to grow the company’s production capacity in the country. This was established with the 2009 start-up of the Frade project. Situated 110km (70 miles) offshore in water depths of approximately 1190m (3900ft), Papa Terra is a heavy oil subsea development located within Block BC-20 of the southern Campos basin. The project will feature the first tension leg well platform in Brazil which will be connected to a FPSO vessel. The completed facility will be capable of producing up to 140 000 barrels of crude oil per day. First production from the Papa Terra project is expected in 2013. Chevron holds a 37.5% interest in the Petrobras-operated Papa Terra project, which it estimates will cost $5.2 billion. The project is estimated to recover 380 million barrels of oil.
Yme MPOU Bergen Group has received a letter of intent from SBM for assistance during the completion of the Yme Mobile Offshore Production Unit with Storage (MOPU Stor) jackup platform. The extent of the contract is yet to be finalized but the total value is expected to be of some tens of millions NOK.
Field Development
..... The Yme platform, which will produce for Talisman Energy Norge AS, is presently being completed in Abu Dhabi and is scheduled to arrive in Norway in May 2010. The platform will then arrive at Bergen Group Rosenberg where the jackup legs and other equipment will be installed.
Espadarte
The platform will then be towed to the offshore location for offshore hook up and completion which is scheduled to be completed in July 2010.
Baleia Azul
Froy
SBM Offshore has received an order from Petrobras for a leaseand-operate contract concerning the Brazilian company’s existing FPSO Espadarte for a period of 18 years on the Baleia Azul field offshore Brazil.
Det norske is moving forward with plans to redevelop the Froy field and expects to submit a new plan for development and operation. If approved, Det norske plans to commence production in 2013. Froy is estimated to hold 56 million barrels of recoverable reserves. It is located on Blocks 25/2, 25/3, 25/5 and 25/6 in PL 367 in the UK sector of the North Sea.
The FPSO Espadarte will be disconnected from its current location at the Espadarte field offshore Brazil.
Gudrun
After transfer to a shipyard, the FPSO will be modified and upgraded for the new project and will then transfer back to Brazil for offshore hook up, installation and operation on the Baleia Azul field. The planned disconnection of the FPSO from the Espadarte field is for April 2011 and first oil at the Baleia Azul field is planned for July 2012. The fixed lease rates payable for this contract amounts to US$1.7 billion.
Statoil has submitted the plan for development and operation (PDO) for its the North Sea Gudrun field. Gudrun lies in production licence 025, about 55km north of the Sleipner installations. The Norwegian Parliament is expected to approve the development before the summer. Plans call for Gudrun to be developed with a traditional steel jack-up platform. The platform will have capacity for partial processing of oil and gas, before the hydrocarbons are piped to Sleipner A. The Gudrun field contains around 132 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which two thirds are oil. High reservoir pressure and temperature call for special technology. Gudrun will form a good basis for developing other oil and gas fields in the area. Investment in field installations, pipelines and drilling of production wells will total nearly NOK 21 billion (nominal).
Espadarte FPSO
The Gudrun platform
The steel production platform will be powered by a cable from Sleipner East. It will have living quarters with 40 cabins. The well are will have 16 well slots. Plans call for seven production wells. The other slots can be used for additional drilling to boost recovery. The topsides will rest on a traditional steel jacket weighing 7100 tonnes, to be built by Aker Solutions under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.
UT3 1Q 2010
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Field Development
Field Development Goliat On behalf of the Goliat license (PL229/PL229B), Eni Norge AS and partner Statoil Petroleum AS, have selected Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for the provision of the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for Goliat. The contract was awarded on the basis of a competitive tender process. The estimated contract value is NOK 6.9 billion. HHI, as engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) contractor, will undertake all the project work including, onshore commissioning and transportation. The FPSO Norwegian Sevan 1000 concept, will be fully winterised and built to meet the conditions in the Barents Sea. The design and engineering of the unit have been based on the highest standards for safety and environment. The FPSO will be provided with electrical power supply from shore which will lead to significant reduction of emission of greenhouse gases. The Sevan cylindrical floater design is currently being operated in the Brazil basin and the North Sea. Goliat has two separate main reservoirs Kobbe and Realgrunnen. Both contain oil with an overlying gas cap. Additional, minor oil discoveries were found in the Snadd and Klappmyss formations. The Realgrunnen lies approximately 1000 metres beneath the sea level, with the Kobbe formation at approximately 1800m. Pressure in the reservoirs is low, 123 bar for Realgrunnen and 192 bar for Kobbe. This is an advantage as regards well control, but presents challenges in connection with production. The provisional oil production profile shows a build-up to 5.4 million m³/year by the second year of
34
production. After that, production will decline relatively rapidly to 1.7 million m³/year, followed by a further steady reduction to 0.5 million m³/year. Gas will be re-injected into the Kobbe reservoir or transported to Melkøya. It is expected that the maximum volume of gas production (and re-injection) will be approximately 1300 million m³/year and will occur one year after production commences. A fter that, gas production will decrease somewhat. The Goliat field is expected to be in production for 15-20 years. Its lifetime may be extended if new discoveries are made in the vicinity. Aker Subsea was awarded the Goliat subsea production system (SPS) contract The SPS contract primarily covers all the activities connected to the supply of the equipment like project management, engineering, procurement, fabrication, acceptance and integration tests and assistance during the installation, testing, commissioning and start up phase of the project. The equipment to be provided includes eight integrated subsea template structures that will be outfitted with 22 wellhead and production tree systems, control umbilicals, riser bases and work over systems. Technip Norge was selected for execution of all activities connected with the supply and installation of the flowlines and riser systems on Goliat. The contract covers project management, engineering, procurement and installation of all flowlines and risers. Installation of the Subsea templates and manifolds, riser bases and umbilicals is also included in the contract scope.
UT3 1Q 2010
Santos FLNG Study SBM Offshore, working in collaboration with Chiyoda, have been awarded a contract by Petrobras for a front end engineering and design (FEED) study for a floating liquefied natural gas production facility (FLNG or LNG FPSO). The study has started and is planned for completion by the end of 2010. This project is being conducted by the joint venture (JV) formed by Petrobras, BG, Repsol and Galp Energia for the pre-salt reservoirs of the Santos Basin offshore Brazil. The JV is studying the FLNG concept as one means to handle the associated gas that will be produced by the series of oil and gas producing FPSOs that are planned to be put in operation for the development of the pre-salt fields in the Santos Basin in the coming years. The FLNG FEED study will be developed considering a water depth of approximately 2200m and a capability to produce around 2.7 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG and 1mtpa of LPG. The environmental conditions considered for the FLNG FEED will require the use of tandem LNG offloading for which SBM Offshore will be able to offer its specialised and proprietary technology. For this project, SBM Offshore will be working as the leading company in a consortium with Chiyoda from Japan. The portfolio value of the FEED contract is approximately US$ 40 million.
Draugen Shell has awarded Aker Solutions an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for a produced water reinjection system on Draugen. The scope includes prefabrication and commissioning assistance. The contract value is NOK 200 million. The produced water re-injection contract is a call-off from the existing modifications and maintenance support contract Aker Solutions has with Shell. Work will be completed in January 2012.
Gjøa
Acergy has been awarded a threeyear contract, plus four one-year options for the provision of dive support vessel services to the DSVi collective of companies, comprising Chevron Hess, Nexen, Talisman and Dana Petroleum. The scope of the contract covers the
Compañía Mexicana De Exploraciones (COMESA) has awarded Technip, a technical assistance contract to help in the development of the pre-front end engineering and design (pre-FEED) for the infrastructure of the Lakach field. Lakach, operated by Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), lies approximately 60km offshore
Petrobras Supply
The hull was submerged to a depth of 35 metres with only five metres protrudeding from the water. The barge carrying the deck was towed from the quay and manoeuvred into place between the columns of the hull.
FMC Technologies has signed a subsea service contract with Petrobras (for a subsea service contract. The agreement is effective through 2012 and is expected to result in an additional $80 million in revenue to FMC Technologies.
The ballast water was then discharged; the hull rose towards the deck and they were mated. When the operation was completed, the draught of the hull was 13m. The mated platform was then towed to the quay, so that the work of mechanical completion could continue.
FMC’s scope of supply includes storage, maintenance, commissioning and offshore services for subsea and topside control systems and drill pipe riser systems.
Veracruz, Mexico, in 1000m of water. The development includes a subsea tieback to shore through dual flowlines and a new onshore gas plant. Pemex has said Lakach holds 1.4tcf of total reserves and anticipates investing 17.2 billion pesos ($1.4 billion) on developing the project from 2011-2015.
“FMC has a strong and longstanding relationship with Petrobras,” said John Gremp, Executive Vice President of FMC Technologies. “Today’s announcement further strengthens that relationship, and will be supported by our two manufacturing facilities in Rio de Janeiro and one service base in Macae.”
Siri Production from Siri field in the Danish part of the North Sea, has been resumed. Its operator, DONG Energy ceased production last October following a routine inspection revealing cracks in a subsea structure connected to the oil storage tank underneath the Siri platform. A temporary solution involving a metal frame that supports the subsea structure is now in place ensuring the stability of the construction.
Goja platfrom. Tommy Solstad, Gyro, for Statoil
Onshore engineering commences immediately, with offshore operations commencing in 2010.
Lakach
The deck and hull of the Gjøa platform have been mated together in the fjord outside the Norwegian town of Stord.
Four guide pins had to meet their respective slots with a tolerance of just 25mm (1in) in all directions. The operation was carried out by Aker Stord.
non-exclusive provision of routine and non-routine diver and ROV inspection, maintenance, repair and construction projects for work offshore in the North Sea.
Field Development
DSVi
Ramboll has secured a contract
UT3 1Q 2010
to design a more permanent reinforcement solution. This involves both design of the installation of 1-2 piles next to the Siri subsea storage tank. The piles will be connected to the caisson with large clamps. Now that Siri is back in production, the adjacent fields, Nini, Cecilie and Stine can also resume production. The oil produced from these fields is transported through a pipeline to the Siri platform and via the subsea oil storage tank of the platform to a tanker.
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Seismic Survey
Seismic Wide-Azimuth GoM Q-Marine Survey WesternGeco has begun acquisition of the E-Octopus VII survey. Located in the Walker Ridge and Keathley Canyon areas of the US central Gulf of Mexico, the multiclient survey covers approximately 300 outer continental shelf (OCS) blocks. E-Octopus VII targets the high profile Lower Tertiary trend in a challenging subsalt imaging area of the Walker Ridge. The survey integrates previously acquired E-Octopus IV and E-Octopus VI phases to further expand the wide-azimuth coverage of the WesternGeco data library.
The latest seismic data processing techniques will be applied to the survey, including 3D generalized surface multiple prediction (GSMP) and anisotropic Reverse Time Migration (RTM). Both techniques are enhanced by the Q-Marine* point-receiver marine seismic acquisition system. The E-Octopus multiclient wideazimuth program in the Gulf of Mexico commenced in July of 2006. With the addition of E-Octopus VII, WesternGeco will have acquired over 3100 OCS blocks of highquality Q-Marine wide-azimuth data in the Gulf of Mexico.
TGS Begins the Justice Wide Azimuth Project Seismic acquisition has now been initiated on the Justice Wide Azimuth (WAZ) 3D project in the Gulf of Mexico. The Justice project is a northeast expansion of the existing and contiguous Freedom and Liberty WAZ projects. The survey adds more than 7800 km2 of WAZ coverage to the TGS portfolio and covers portions of the hydrocarbon rich areas of Mississippi Canyon, Viosca Knoll, and De Soto Canyon. Acquisition will continue throughout the first half of 2010 and upon completion of Justice, TGS will have more than 27 000 km2 of WAZ 3D in its data library. These wide azimuth projects provide the industry with modern seismic imaging covering the most productive oil producing area of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Map of the Justice WAZ project
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UT3 1Q 2010
E-Octopus VII survey.
Ramform Sovereign
Pemex Survey CGGVeritas has been awarded a contract by Pemex to acquire and process 75 000 km2 of 3D seismic data offshore Gulf of Mexico. The program is expected to extend through 2013. Total contract value is approximately $465 million. The day rate contract includes 3D and wide-azimuth offshore acquisition, onboard and onshore imaging as well as gravity and magnetic acquisition and processing. Marine acquisition work will be performed by the Alizé, a high-end CGGVeritas vessel equipped with 12 Sercel Sentinel streamers. According to Robert Brunck, Chairman and CEO, of GGVeritas, “We are very pleased to have been chosen for this important contract, based on our unique portfolio of technologies and our deep in-country operational experience across all activities. This multi-year project clearly underlines the confidence Pemex has in both our technology and our expertise. The award further extends our leadership position in the high-end segment of the market.”
Since the first Ramform seismic vessel sailed out of the yard in May 1995 its delta shaped design has become a trademark for PGS.
acquisition and transit speed, 25% longer endurance, and 60% higher production capacity compared to the rest of the Ramform fleet.
Thanks to the 40m broad beam and ultra-stable hull construction PGS was able to produce first more and more efficient seismic with ultra wide streamer tows, then better and better resolution data with the introduction high density (HD3D) seismic and ever higher streamer counts.
The S-class are easily the most powerful seismic ships in the world, with a power plant supplying 30,000 horsepower. The vessels feature many new innovations, including the world’s first roll compensated helideck, steerable sources, dual workboat capacity and unique gear handling systems.
Last year, the Ramform Sterling became the latest ship to join the fleet. Like the Sovereign she is 16 meters longer than the previous class of Ramforms with significantly higher
The range of technologies employed promises to make this the new benchmark for 3D, 4D and wide azimuth acquisition – in terms of productivity, efficiency, safety and data quality
Seismic Survey
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Mid North Sea Palaeozoic Survey PGS has completed processing of a MultiClient 2D GeoStreamer survey that covers the UK Mid North Sea High and extends into north-west offshore Netherlands.
Geoscientists are now undertaking an interpretation that will focus on the Carboniferous source and maturity, as well as proven and possible hydrocarbon plays in the region.
The data offers a clearer image of the deep Paleozoic geology that unlocks the regional understanding, structural history and the frontier hydrocarbon potential of this province.
PGS carried out a wide azimuth survey using the Viking and Valiant, and two additional source vessels. This acquired more than 10 0002 km of wide azimuth data.
The survey ties 30 key wells in the region, including the recent Exxon/ Shell “Corbenic” prospect, and gives insight into the Breagh Gas Field play fairway, for those evaluating UK 26th Round open acreage.
Their focus is on the East Breaks area of the Western Gulf of Mexico, an area of growing significance to GoM Exploration teams. The survey has been designed to overcome the challenges associated with sub-salt imaging.
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37
Seismic Survey
Seismic Polarcus Nadia Launched Polarcus Limited took delivery of the Polarcus Nadia, a modern 12 streamer 3D seismic vessel built to the Ulstein SX124 design. The vessel was built at Drydocks World – Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Polarcus Nadia is a purpose-built seismic vessel incorporating the innovative Ulstein X-BOW and designed to meet the exacting specifications for offshore seismic operations worldwide. The 88.8m double-hulled vessel incorporates some of the most recent developments in maritime systems and is fitted out with the most advanced seismic technology commercially available, including the latest generation Sentinel solid streamers. Polarcus Nadia is one of the safest and most environmentally sound seismic vessels in the market with diesel-electric propulsion, high specification catalytic convertors, DP2 dynamic positioning, and advanced bilge water cleaning, enabling the vessel to conform to existing and envisaged IMO and Class rules and to comply with the Det Norske Veritas (DNV) stringent CLEAN-DESIGN and COMFV(3) class notations. Polarcus Nadia will transit to West Africa to commence a charter for TGS-NOPEC. The sister vessel Polarcus Asima, was also recently launched to sea at the Drydocks World shipyard in the United Arab Emirates. This is the first of the SX134 designs with the high class notation, ICE-1A, enabling her to operate safely and effectively in the Arctic. The 92m vessel is purpose built for the high-end 3D marine seismic market and capable of towing up to 12 by 8000m streamers. Like the Polarcus Nadia and Polarcus Naila, the Polarcus Asima incorporates many new and innovative design features designed to maximise operational performance, improve safety and comfort, and minimize emissions to air and water. Polarcus Asima is also fitted with the latest chemical-free ballast water treatment system to eliminate the risk of transporting and introducing invasive marine species into new environments. Outfitting of the vessel will continue at Drydocks World - Dubai with final delivery scheduled for mid- 2010.
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UT3 1Q 2010
Seismic Survey
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The Polarcus Nadia. Photo: Polarcus Limited
UT3 1Q 2010
39
Seismic Survey
Seismic Philippines Seismic
Ocean Bottom Cable ARGAS, the Saudi Arabian joint venture owned 49% by CGGVeritas and 51% by TAQA, has been awarded two major Ocean Bottom Cable (OBC) 3D data acquisition contracts by Saudi Aramco. The two contracts have a combined value of around $375 million. The first project is scheduled to start in June 2010 and operate for a period of 18 months while the second is scheduled to run from October 2010 for a period of 24 months; each contract respectively has an 18– and 24–month optional extension period.
The projects will cover an initial 6 0002 km over the next three years and require operational expertise working in complex environments, such as producing oil fields and busy shipping lanes within the Saudi waters of the Gulf with depths ranging from 20 to 60m. ARGAS will mobilise two fully independent OBC crews equipped with the latest Sercel SeaRay 4C equipment and recording systems. These fully offshore operations will be managed through a fleet of vessels equipped with CGGVeritas deployment and positioning systems geared to operate in such environments.
BHP Billiton (BHPB). and Otto Energy have entered into a seismic acquisition and farm-in option agreement with the SC55 permit in the Philippines with Otto will secure seismic services providing for the commencement of the seismic acquisition. For its part, BHPB will fund the acquisition and processing of a minimum of 1,000 km2 and up to 2,000 km2 of 3D seismic in SC55. Otto has agreed to grant BHPB exclusivity to review the entire seismic data base and exercise an option to farm-in to SC55. The farm-in option provides BHPB with an exclusive right to elect to earn a 60%
Nautilus-Sentinel CGGVeritas has successfully deployed its Nautilus acoustic positioning and streamer steering system on the Alizé, one of its high-end vessels, has dramatically increased production levels on the first project of the mega 3D seismic program currently being acquired for PEMEX in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite severe winter weather conditions the Alizé, on its first project of the program, has achieved a one-day production record of 117 km2 and has significantly exceeded production targets. This has been supported by the deployment of 12 Sercel Nautilus-Sentinel steered solid streamers and the fact that, with a 12 by 8-km by 100-m configuration, the Alizé is towing one of the largest areal receiver arrays in the industry. Nautilus has dramatically reduced the infill requirements through consistent streamer separations and depth control across the entire spread. The first project in the PEMEX survey program, known as Han Sur-Oeste de Tamil, covers a surface area of 12 300 km2 in the Mexican deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Robert Brunck, Chairman and CEO, CGGVeritas, said: “The Alizé’s deployment of a combination of advanced Sercel Sentinel solid streamers and Nautilus is setting a new benchmark for safer operations, quieter data and better crew efficiency. We are confident that, with the Alizé’s clear competitive technological edge and our advanced imaging capabilities, we will deliver the lowest-noise and highest-quality data to best image the subsalt areas being targeted by this survey program.” The Alizé high-end seismic vessels
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4D GeoStreamer: The New Standard A full-scale time-lapse 3D (4D) test in the North Sea with a GeoStreamer monitor survey over a conventional streamer baseline survey yielded excellent repeatability that is fully in line with industry requirements.
net participating interest in SC55 through funding the drilling of the two deepwater exploration wells and the reimbursement of Otto’s past costs. BHPB will also be assigned operatorship in the event that it elects to farm in to SC55. If BHBP elects to drill only the first deepwater exploration well then BHBP will transfer back 30% interest and operatorship of SC55 to Otto. Otto recently acquired of 600 km of 3D seismic in SC55. These two seismic surveys will allow Otto to establish a comprehensive subsurface understanding of the offshore Palawan permit area and prospects inventory for future drilling programmes. 2
The flexibility of the GeoStreamer platform was exploited to reconstruct the total pressure field at the acquisition depth of the baseline survey prior to 4D comparison. Thus, 3D GeoStreamer is fully backwardscompatible with conventional (hydrophone-only) streamer data for 4D differencing, and GeoStreamer unequivocally represents the premier towed streamer solution for all 2D, 3D and 4D applications. A time-lapse 3D or “4D” project involves repeat 3D seismic surveys over a producing hydrocarbon reservoir, where a change in the physical state of the reservoir has occurred because of production. 4D surveys are used to optimise the planning of producer and injector well placement. The first survey is the baseline survey, and each successive survey is a monitor survey. Ideally, the acquisition geometry and hardware is repeated exactly from survey to survey, as are environmental conditions, such that any observable 4D signal is derived entirely from physical changes in the reservoir state. Variations in acquisition geometry naturally invoke changes in wave propagation through the Earth, variations in target illumination, and variations in wavefield sampling, and will contribute errors to the 4D signal. Variations in acquisition hardware and/or environmental conditions will naturally invoke changes in the signal-to-noise content, signal fidelity,
and the seismic wavelet, thus also contributing errors to the 4D signal. The PGS dual-sensor GeoStreamer technology introduces several new parameters into towed streamer 4D projects; the ability to remove all receiver ghost effects prior to wavefield differencing, the operational and geophysical benefits of towing the streamers very deep (after the receiver ghost has been removed), and the ability to extrapolate the wavefield to any effective receiver depth for accurate kinematic wavefield differencing. PGS has proven the universal data quality benefits of the dual-sensor GeoStreamer since the first commercial 2D survey in early-2008. As of October 2009, more than 80 000km of 2D and 8500 km2 of 3D data had been acquired worldwide. The final chapter was of course to progress to 4D (timelapse 3D), which was expected to also benefit from the unique characteristics of GeoStreamer: •Higher signal-to-noise content on baseline and monitor GeoStreamer surveys processed to yield the upgoing pressure wavefield should improve 4D repeatability. •Deep streamer towing (between 15 and 25 m) will be less subject to surface-related noise and current effects that impact receiver spread control, acoustic positioning will have less noise/uncertainty, and there will be less ambient noise. •The unique ability to independently extrapolate the upgoing and downgoing pressure wavefields to any depth in processing allows an unrivalled ability to match GeoStreamer monitor surveys with conventional baseline surveys acquired at different depths.
Mid-offset fold coverage maps for the baseline (left) and monitor (right) surveys. The result in the middle is the matching baseline and monitor traces after 4D binning. The bold rectangle in the middle is the full fold area used for various analyses.
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Seismic Survey
Seismic SeaBird
Otto
SeaBird Exploration’s fleet of seismic vessels have a number of commitments this year.
Otto Energy will commence a 3D seismic data acquisition program in SC55. The company plans to acquire 590 km2. of 3D data in the southwest part of SC55. The programme is designed to mature the Hawkeye structure and several other key leads in the license area.
The Munin Explorer has been awarded a contract in the North Sea as a source vessel commencing 1st June for 2 months, with an option to extend for a further 3–4 months. The initial award period, will generate about US$4.1 million. The Osprey Explorer is contracted to work until the end March in East India. This survey of approximately 3000 km will generate in the region of US$1.7 million. A letter of award has been received for a survey in East Africa of approximately 5,000 km commencing mid to late April. The vessel to perform this contract will most likely be the Osprey Explorer. This contract will generate in the region of US$ 4.7 million. Continuing a successful series of projects in Australia that began late October 2009, the Aquila Explorer has entered into a contract with the state of Victoria through the for the acquisition of approximately 7400km 2D marine seismic data within the Southern Flanks of the offshore Gippsland Basin, South-eastern Australia, and covering the 2009 released Greenhouse Gas Storage blocks (Gipps-01 to Gipps-03). The vessel will then return to South-east Asia where she has been awarded contracts to undertake approximately 4000 km of 2D acquisition over two areas in the Song Hong Basin.
SC55 covers 9000km2 in the south west Palawan Basin, Philippines. It is located on a regional oil and gas fairway that extends from the productive Borneo offshore region in the southwest to the offshore Philippines production assets northwest of Palawan.
Sicily Northern Petroleum commenced 3D seismic operations in the West Sicily thrust belt that will cover four licenses G.R17.NP, G.R20.NP, G.R21.NP and G.R22.NP. A total of up to 1520km2 of 3D seismic data will be acquired in these licenses with the survey expected to last approximately two months. The aim of the survey is to obtain a better quality, and more complete, definition of the encouraging structures identified by the two previous 2D seismic campaigns, and firm up prospects for drilling. The seismic acquisition has been contracted to Petroleum Geo-Services and the 3D data is being acquired using the vessel M/V Atlantic Explorer using GeoStreamer technology to enhance resolution.
The Munin Explorer
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Subsea Equipment
Trees
Shallow Water Tree GE Oil and Gas has designed a new subsea tree specifically for use in shallow waters. Called the VetcoGray shallow vertical Xmas tree (SVXT), it is the first of the S-series of next generation designs with the followup, aimed at the deepwater sector, being unveiled next May.
vehicle (ROV) intensive,” said Bryson. “The area is characterised by very strong currents, and it is, therefore, often necessary to wait until slack tide before putting an ROV or diver in the water. Unfortunately, the slack tide can last for only 20 mins and occurs every six hours.”
“The new SVXT subsea tree merges horizontal and vertical tree technology, reducing weight by 20%, decreasing height to make a fishingfriendly structure and delivering essential functionality in a preengineered, pre-configured modular way,” said Willie Bryson, lead product manager of the S-series.
An ROV can move 2–3kts but the current itself may have a lateral movement of 2kts. It requires considerable expertise for the ROV pilot just to maintain location, let alone performing the work.
In designing the tree, the engineers at VetcoGray particularly concentrated on the high cost areas of installation and intervention. “In the shallow waters of the southern North Sea, installation is very diver and remote operated
Drilling operations in shallow waters are typically carried out by jack-up rigs, however, their design often leaves little space to accommodate a diving spread. Some even find it difficult to facilitate the much smaller ROV spreads. The engineers at VetcoGray, therefore, came up with an ingenious solution. Instead of the subsea controls
traditionally extending horizontally to allow contact with the ROV tooling, the junction plate on the SVXT is turned 90deg to point upwards. This allows a specialised skid incorporating smart tools to be lowered from the surface, in order to carry out the intervention work that would previously be done with the ROV. The assembly is run on guidewires and latches on to the appropriate port. After the intervention, the skid is retrieved to the surface. The advantage of this is that it improves diver safety and can be carried out regardless of weather. In removing ROVs, their primary observation function must be carried out using an alternative method. This prompted VetcoGray to install a number of sacrificial cameras and high intensity light sources at strategic places, with their output relayed to the surface in real time. “A video image is vital,” said Bryson. “When we land and lock the Christmas tree, the structure often kicks up a lot of silt. We must be able to confirm that the indicator rod has moved to the correct position and confirm the connection has been made. “Traditionally, we would have employed a small observation ROV. These cameras on the main tree connector lock/unlock, and another of the flowline connector sends a signal to the surface to give the operator confidence that it is safe to perform an overpull to give a the second confirmation that tree is locked. “Another weather dependent operation is the installation of the trees themselves,” said Bryson. “A lot of the time, the trees weigh over 20t and have to be keelhauled, the practice of lifting them directly off the back of the supply boat and installing them. “We realised that if we can minimise the tree weight, we might be able to
VetcoGray‘s shallow vertical xmas tree
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Cameron has received an order worth in excess of $230 million for the supply of subsea production systems for Stage 1 of Chevron’s Jack and St Malo subsea developments in the Gulf of Mexico. The project will include twelve 15 000psi subsea trees, production control systems, four manifolds and associated connection systems engineering and project management services. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2011 and continue through the second quarter of 2013.
install it by a normal jack-up crane and that will cut down on time waiting on weather. One area that VetcoGray looked into to minimise weight was by removing one of the valves.
Snorre
“Traditionally, a subsea tree normally has a manual master valve, production master and production swab valve. In the SVXT design, we removed the manual master valve, kept the production hydraulic master valve but also removed the production swab valve,” said Bryson. “In doing so, we replaced the swab valve and tree cap with double barrier crown plugs.
The award will result in approximately $40 million in revenue to FMC Technologies.
“This layout saves the capital cost of the tree cap as well as its installation time. A unique valve arrangement on the tree annulus providing the necessary barriers. This design effectively merges horizontal and vertical tree technology together.”
“Statoil recently announced a modification programme on the Snorre field that is designed to extend the field’s productive lifespan through 2040,” said Tore Halvorsen, FMC’s senior vice president of Global Subsea Production Systems.
Another way that the designers achieved a reduced weight was to improve the balance of the tree.
Petrobras
“ It is important that the tree is reasonably level when mating with the wellhead when lowered from the surface,” said Bryson. “This is traditionally accomplished by adding counterweights to keep the tree at an even angle. “In the XT tree, we have used design tools that allow us to calculate centres of gravity of the various modules. By ergonomic positioning of components, for example by placing the pod in such a position to balance the choke, fewer counterweights are required to achieve a unit balance. In the design, we used less than 300lbs of counterweights. The result is a tree weighing around 15t complete with a modpod subsea control module which is the lightest of its type on the market.
Subsea Equipment
Jack and St Malo
FMC Technologies has signed an agreement with Statoil for the design and supply of subsea equipment to support its Snorre field in the North Sea.
FMC’s scope of supply includes 10 production risers, tieback connectors and installation tools. The equipment will be engineered and manufactured at FMC’s facilities in Houston, Texas and Kongsberg, Norway. Deliveries are scheduled to commence in 2011.
The Snorre field
FMC Technologies has signed a four-year subsea tree frame agreement with Petrobras in a $400 million contract. FMC’s scope of supply includes the manufacture of up to 107 subsea trees and related tools designed for use offshore Brazil in water depths of 6500ft (2000m). All systems and equipment will be engineered and manufactured at FMC’s facility in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Deliveries are scheduled to commence in 2012. Prior to this agreement, Petrobras had awarded more than 300 subsea trees to FMC’s operations in Brazil.
Angola
FMC has signed an agreement with Total Exploration and Production Angola for the manufacture and supply of subsea production equipment. The award has a value of approximately $65 million in revenue to FMC Technologies.
FMC’s scope of supply includes the manufacture of subsea trees, controls and associated equipment. The systems will be manufactured and assembled at FMC’s facilities in Dunfermline, Scotland; Kongsberg, Norway; and Luanda, Angola.
The equipment will support Total Angola’s Block 17 development, located offshore Angola, West Africa.
Deliveries are scheduled to commence early 2011.
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Pipelines
Flowlines and
Pipelines Tiffany and Banff Subsea engineering and construction company Subsea 7, has been awarded a contract for installation of replacement subsea control modules (SCMs) and flexibles jumpers at CNR International Limited’s Tiffany and Banff oil and gas fields, in the UK sector of the North Sea. The Subsea 7 workscope involves investigation and rectification works at the Tiffany field and the installation of replacement SCMs and flexible jumpers at both the Banff and Toni fields.
Subsea 7’s Vice President for the UK Region, Steph McNeill commented: “I am pleased that Subsea 7 has been awarded another North Sea contract and we look forward to delivering this project in a safe and timely manner for CNR over the next few weeks.”
Offshore work has commenced and is being performed by Subsea 7’s dive support vessel (DSV), the Rockwater 1
Rockwater 1 in Aberdeen harbour
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The Tiffany field is located in Block 16/17 and the Banff field is located in Blocks 22/27a & 29/2a in the UK sector of the North Sea.
Appaloosa Technip has been awarded a lump sum contract by ENI US, operator for the Appaloosa development project in the Gulf of Mexico. This consists of the tieback of the Appaloosa well located in Mississippi Canyon, 268km (145 nautical miles) offshore Mobile, Alabama at a water depth of approximately 860m (2825ft), to the Corral platform.
Technip’s operating centre in Houston will execute this contract. The flowline and riser will be welded at the group’s spoolbase located in Mobile.
The contract covers • Project management and surveys • Engineering, fabrication and installation of a 34km (21 mile) production flowline, a riser and subsea equipment • Installation of free-issued umbilical and flying leads, • Pre-commissioning and dewatering of the flowline.
Extensive saturation diving work will be executed using the diving support vessel Skandi Achiever. The umbilical installation will be carried out using the Deep Pioneer, one of Technip’s deepwater construction vessel.
Offshore installation is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2009 using the Deep Blue, Technip’s deepwater pipelay vessel.
Technip’s scope of work is expected to be completed by April 2010.
Ula BP Norge has awarded Aker Solutions a NOK 450 million engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for a tie-back from Oselvar to the Ula platform. Aker Solutions estimates the contract value to be approximately. Scope of work includes engineering, procurement, fabrication of module and other minor components, installation offshore and commissioning assistance. The execution phase is based on a front end engineering design (FEED) study performed by Aker Solutions. The object of the tie-back operation is to transport oil and gas 24km from
the DONG operated Oselvar field to BP’s Ula platform for processing. The oil will be processed at the platform. The gas will either be reinjected or exported via pipeline to Gyda and Ekofisk facilities. The Ula platform is located in the southwest area of the North Sea, at approximately 70m water depth. The Ula field has recently been upgraded with water- and gas injection equipment, which allows it to take on production from several other fields in the area. The EPCI contract is a call-off from the Modifications & Maintenance Support Contract with BP Norge AS. Work under the contract starts immediately and the project will be completed in November 2011.
Bonga Saipem has been awarded a new offshore contract worth over US$ 200 million for the subsea development of the Bonga NorthWest field, located in the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 118, approximately 120km off the Nigerian coast. The contract has been awarded by Shell Nigeria, and encompasses engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation and precommissioning services for 13km of 10in/12in production pipe-inpipe flowlines, 4km of 12in water injection flowlines as well as related
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production facilities. The contract also includes the installation of 15km of umbilicals. Bonga North-West is located in approximately 900 to 1200m of water, and will be developed with 12 subsea wells tied back into the Bonga main infrastructure. Marine activities will be carried out mainly by Saipem FDS and Saipem 3000 vessels, in different time-frames between the second half of 2012 and the last quarter of 2013
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Pipelines
Flowlines and
Pipelines CWLH
Scana Forgings
Technip and Subsea 7 have been awarded a subsea installation contract by Woodside Energy, for the Cossack Wanaea Lambert Hermes (CWLH) redevelopment project in Western Australia.
Scana has been awarded contract to deliver finished machined riser forgings to FMC through its subsidiary Scana Subsea. The high pressure production risers are intended for the Snorre TLP in the Greater Snorre Area on the
The overall CWLH redevelopment project involves the replacement of the oil-producing Cossack Pioneer floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility, located offshore in the Carnarvon Basin, as well as the refurbishment of associated subsea infrastructure. The Technip and Subsea 7 contract consisting in the refurbishment of associated subsea infrastructure covers: l Project management, l Recovery of three risers and installation of three replacement risers, l Installation of 20km of flowlines, l Riser base rectification works, and l Pre-commissioning assistance. The project team is based in Technip’s office in Perth, Western Australia. The flowlines and risers have been manufactured in Le Trait, France, one of Technip’s flexible pipe plants. Offshore installation is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2010 using the Venturer, a construction vessel from Technip’s fleet and the Nor Australis diving support vessel contracted to Woodside.
Jubilee Oilfield company Weatherford has been awarded a contract by Technip for precommissioning and commissioning services on the Jubilee field development project off Ghana. The contract covers the pigging of production, water and gas injection flowlines, hydrostatic testing of the flowlines, riser and jumpers, as well as de-watering of the gas injection system, said Weatherford. During installation and post installation Weatherford will also perform electrical and pressure monitoring and testing of the umbilicals from the floating production storage and offloading vessel. Weatherford will use the Denizen subsea pipeline commissioning system on this project, which will be the first deployment of such technology in Ghana.
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Norwegian continental shelf. The field is operated by Statoil and the production risers are part of their replacement programme. The scope includes forging and machining of production riser joints
First Project for Normand Subsea Subsea 7’s new state-of-the-art remotely operated vehicle support vessel (ROVSV), the Normand Subsea, has commenced her first project for Shell in the Ormen Lange field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The life of field vessel will be utilised exclusively to service the longterm underwater services contract Subsea 7 holds with Shell Entities, operating in Europe, for inspection, repair and maintenance programmes and for some of Shell’s capital projects and decommissioning works, across its offshore fields and facilities. The Normand Subsea’s first workscope at Ormen Lange includes template and pipeline inspections and ship wreck surveys. Investment in the Normand Subsea is part of an ongoing capital investment programme of over US $1bn in new assets and equipment which will see eight new vessels joining the existing Subsea 7 fleet between 2006 and 2010. Steph McNeill, Vice President for Subsea 7’s UK region, stated: “The Normand Subsea is a fantastic enhancement to one of the most modern, technologically advanced and capable fleets of subsea construction, pipelay and support vessels in the world. Our significant investment programme demonstrates our commitment to delivering best in class services for our clients, investing for the long-term and becoming the Subsea Partner of Choice in our sector. We look forward to working with Shell in the safe and timely delivery of the various work scopes this vessel will be undertaking for them over the next few years.” The vessel, which is on long-term charter from Solstad Offshore, has a unique combination of capabilities that include: a fully enclosed hangar; built in 35t module handling system (upgradeable to 65t); 150t heave compensated crane; an extensive spread of two work class ROVs and four observation class ROVs all equipped for 1200metre depths; a hull with five moonpools; a well treatment system and an extensive online and offline survey suite. It also has on-board facilities for a ship’s complement of 90 people. The Shell Underwater Services Contract is the continuation of an ongoing long-term relationship between Subsea 7 and Shell which commenced in 1984 with one of Subsea 7’s predecessor companies.
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for ten riser systems and additional spare components, and an option for additional riser systems. The contract value for the first ten riser systems is US $9.4 million. .
from 4th quarter 2010 to 2012 in batch deliveries. The contract will also involve subsidiary Scana Steel Björneborg.
Manufacturing is planned to start immediately and deliveries will commence
CEO in Scana Industrier ASA, Rolf Roverud, said, “This is the first
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Pipelines
..... major contract for Scana Subsea, which was formed to strengthen our efforts towards the riser market within oil and gas. The award order recognises Scana material knowledge combined with our plant capabilities.”
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Pipelines
Flowlines and
Pipelines
The Orelia, which will be used on Broom
Broom Technip has been awarded a lump sum contract by Lundin, worth approximately €21 million, for an augmentation pipeline at the Broom field in the UK North Sea. Located 320km north-east of Aberdeen, Scotland, the field is tied back to Heather Alpha. The new augmentation pipeline will extend the existing Broom subsea infrastructure.
The contract covers the design, fabrication and installation of a pipein-pipe production flowline, which will be trenched and backfilled. The work also includes a subsea structure, spoolpiece tie-ins, repositioning of a flexible riser and rockdumping for upheaval buckling. Technip’s operating centre in Aberdeen
The consortium plans to start construction in April 2010 as it has also already received all the permits required by the four other countries through whose territorial waters or Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) the pipeline will pass -– namely Russia, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. The Regional Administrative Agency
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The pipelines will be welded at Technip’s Spoolbase in Evanton, Scotland. Two vessels from the Technip fleet will be used for the offshore installation campaign: the Orelia diving support vessel and the Apache II pipelay vessel.
Bend Stiffener Installation
Nord Stream Nord Stream AG has received the last of the permits required to start constructing its 1223km natural gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea. The Finnish Water Permit complements the earlier permit granted by the Finnish Government for the Nord Stream consortium to use Finnish waters.
will execute the contract, scheduled to be completed late this year.
for Southern Finland (former Western Finland Permit Authority) approved Nord Stream’s detailed plans to construct, operate and maintain its gas pipeline along a 374km route. The Nord Stream consortium plans to start transporting gas in late 2011. When completed in 2012, Nord Stream’s twin pipelines will be able to transport 55 billion m3 of gas a year from Russia to Germany, where it will join the European energy grid. Gazprom has already signed long-term contracts to supply 20 billion m3 of gas to customers in EU countries including Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, France and the UK.
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First Subsea completed the installation of four diverless bend stiffeners for risers and umbilicals on submerged turret loading (STL) buoys for the Neptune deep water project north and south, off the Massachusetts coast. The STL buoys will be used for mooring liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification vessels at the offshore processing, Neptune deep water port. The bend stiffeners, supplied by Trelleborg Offshore, are connected using First Subsea diverless bend stiffener connectors (DBSC). The buoy was pre-fitted with female DBSC connectors to which the male connectors with the risers and umbilicals were installed.
Pipelines
NCS
.....
NCS Survey has been awarded a major survey contract by Saipem for pipelay support during the inshore phase of the Nord Stream pipeline project, two gas pipelines linking Russia with the European Union via the Baltic Sea. The contract is valued at €2m to €3m and will commence in the middle of the year. Andy Gray, NCS Survey Chief Executive, said “We are delighted that Saipem has embraced this innovative technology, which gives them a high accuracy solution at an economic price.” The sonar actively tracks the pipe catenary during lay operations using the unique beam steering capability embedded in our TDM software. It enables the contractor to know exactly where the pipe is laid in realtime and thereby minimises the risk when laying near any subsea structures or other live pipelines even when there is zero visibility. In deeper water, TDM transducers can be mounted on an ROV giving it the capability of monitoring touchdown in poor visibility or from 50m away.
Burullus
Asiaflex
Auk Burghley
Technip has been awarded a €65 million lump sum engineering, procurement, installation and construction (EPIC) contract by Burullus Gas Company SAE for the West Delta Deep Marine (WDDM) Phase VII development project.
Technip has been awarded by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) a flexible pipe supply contract for the Lufeng 13-1/132 oil fields, located in the South China Sea. Technip’s operating center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will execute this contract, which includes the engineering and supply of a 6in riser, a mid water arch and a 6in flowline.
Technip has been awarded two engineering, procurement and installation contracts by Talisman, worth in excess of €40 million, for the development of the Auk North and Burghley fields. The fields will be tied back to Talisman’s Fulmar A platform and the Premier Oil-operated Balmoral Floating Production Vessel respectively.
The project is designed to maintain overall plateau production for the WDDM Concession, located 95km offshore Egypt in the Mediterranean. Technip’s operating center in Oslo, Norway, will execute this contract with assistance from the Group’s team in Cairo, Egypt. It covers turnkey delivery of the tie-in structure between a new gas export pipeline and two existing pipelines, including “hot tap tie-ins” that allows the work to be carried out without stopping the ongoing production. Offshore installation is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2010 using the Wellservicer, a vessel from Technip’s fleet.
Manufacturing of the flexible pipes will commence in the third quarter 2010 after completion of the factory qualification trials. Delivery is planned for February 2011.
The Auk North contract covers the fabrication and installation of a production pipeline, the installation of an umbilical*, a power cable and subsea equipment.
This award marks an important milestone for Technip, as it will be the first contract for commercial manufacture in its new flexible pipe plant, Asiaflex Products, located in the Tanjung Langsat industrial complex in Malaysia.
The Burghley contract covers fabrication and installation of a production pipeline and a gas lift pipeline, as well as the installation of an umbilical and subsea structures. Both contracts include pre-commissioning and commissioning support.
Built to cater to the expanding Asia Pacific market and growing demand for deepwater solutions in the region, Asiaflex Products will have the capacity to produce 200km of flexible flowlines, risers and umbilicals per year.
Technip’s operating center in Aberdeen, Scotland will execute the contracts, which are scheduled to commence in the field in the second quarter of 2010. The pipelines will be welded at Technip’s spoolbase in Evanton, Scotland.
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Pipelines
O F F S H O R E
Pipelines Helix Energy Solutions Group (ESG) has taken delivery of a new deepwater pipelay vessel. The Caesar departed the shipyard in China in November 2009 for the Gulf of Mexico to join the company’s subsea construction fleet. Caesar is a dynamically positioned (DP2) pipelay vessel, capable of laying large diameter concrete coated pipelines in shallow water and up to 24in diameter pipelines in deep waters. Caesar’s onboard pipeline manufacturing capability facilitates pipelay operations without dedicated onshore infrastructure, making her a cost-effective option in remote areas versus reeled pipelay vessels. In addition, her 300t crane and 450t A-frame are well suited for deepwater installation of inline manifolds and terminals. “The S-lay Caesar will increase the options available to operators who are planning major deepwater subsea construction projects,” said Helix ESG’s chief operating officer Bart Heijermans. “We are very pleased with the performance of the vessel and believe she will be an attractive choice for our customers because of her unique capabilities and competitive cost structure.” Caesar completed transit, joining the Intrepid and Express reeled pipelay vessels. Length 146m Transit Speed 13kts Tension 405t A and R winch 405t Pipe Diameter 4–36in Storage Capacity 10 000t Firing line stations 8 Stinger Length 90m Main Crane 300t A-Frame 450t Accommodation 210
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Hail Caesar
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r
..... Asgard Gas Transfer
Statoil has awarded Technip a €23 million engineering, procurement, construction and installation lump sum contract for the Åsgard gas transfer project. The contract covers fabrication and installation of a 4km rigid flowline this year and the replacement of two flexible risers in 2011.
The contract will be executed by the group’s operating centre in Oslo, Norway. The flowline will be fabricated at the Technip spoolbase in Orkanger, while installation will be performed by the newly converted Apache II. The marine operations in 2011 will be from the Skandi Arctic.
CWLH
Subsea 7 and Technip have been awarded a subsea installation contract by Woodside Energy for the Cossack Wanaea Lambert Hermes (CWLH) redevelopment project in Western Australia. The CWLH redevelopment project involves the replacement of the oilproducing Cossack Pioneer and the refurbishment of associated subsea infrastructure. The contract covers project management, recovery of three risers and installation of three replacement risers, installation of 20km of flowlines, riser base rectification works and pre-commissioning assistance.
Schiehallion Technip has been awarded two contracts by BP for its Schiehallion development, 175km west of the Shetland Islands. The first, which was recently completed, covered the design and manufacture of a 720m (2400ft) gaslift flexible riser and a 770m (2500ft) water-injection flexible riser. The second contract covers the installation of these risers, as well as pre-commissioning, tie-ins and testing.
Bonga Saipem has been awarded an offshore contract worth over US$ 200 million for the subsea development of the Bonga north-west field, approximately 120km off the Nigerian coast in 900 to 1200m of water. It will be developed with 12 subsea wells tied back into the Bonga main infrastructure. The contract, for Shell Nigeria, encompasses engineering,
procurement, fabrication, installation and pre-commissioning services for 13km of 10in/12in production pipe-inpipe flowlines and 4km of 12in water injection flowlines. The contract also includes the installation of 15km of umbilicals. Marine activities will be carried out mainly by Saipem FDS and Saipem 3000 vessels.
Casablanca Repsol has awarded Techip a lump sum contract for the development of two fields, 50km off the coast of Spain.
Technip will also install a pumping manifold, umbilicals and flying leads provided by the client.
Technip’s scope includes engineering, supply, installation and precommissioning of the 11km flexible pipeline system that will connect two production wells to the Casablanca platform. This pipeline will include a riser, a flowline and two jumpers.
The project is located in a fishing area. To protect fishing lines, the flexible pipelines and umbilicals will therefore be trenched. Offshore installation is scheduled to be carried out in the first half of 2011, using the Deep Constructor.
PNG LNG for Saipem ExxonMobil awarded Saipem the contract for the Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (LNG) offshore pipeline project EPC2. The project is part of ExxonMobil PNG LNG project to develop gas and liquid hydrocarbon resources located in the southern highlands of Papua New Guinea with an LNG exporting facility in Caution Bay, near Port Moresby. The scope of work will consist of the engineering, transportation and installation of a 407km, 34in gas sealine, connecting the Omati River landfall point on the southern coast of Papua New Guinea, to the onshore
point located near the capital town of Port Moresby, on the southeastern coast of the country where a new LNG plant will be located. Maximum water depth along the route is approximately 100m. Marine operations will be carried out by Semac 1 offshore vessel. The activities will be completed in the third quarter of 2012. In Vietnam, Saipem has been awarded the contract for the Chim Sao platform and pipelines project by PTSC Mechanical and Construction.
Borealis Acergy has acquired the Borealis pipelay vessel currently being built at Singapore’s Sembawang Shipyard. The DP3 (dynamic positioning) vessel is equipped with a 5000t crane. Acergy plans to install a 1000t J-Lay tower and state-of-the-art 600t S-Lay equipment. It will also be fitted with
UT3 1Q 2010
a range of support systems and construction equipment for worldwide deepwater and harsh environment operations. Final completion and operational delivery of the ship is scheduled for 2012. Total costs, upon delivery, are expected to be less than $500m.
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Pipelines
Pipelines Girassol Pipeline Repair Subsea 7 has successfully completed the Girassol Pipeline Repair Project for Total Exploration and Production, Angola. The project was an entirely diverless pipeline repair in 1350m water depth and was based on a technical design competition issued by Total which resulted in Subsea 7 being awarded the contract for the design, manufacture, testing and operation of a new deepwater pipeline repair system (PRS). The system would then be used on the repair of a damaged 12in water injection pipeline in the Girassol field. Girassol is located approximately 210km north-west of Luanda, in water depth of approximately 1350m.
The PRS system has a set of permanent equipment such as the spool deployment frame, rigid spool piece, end connection skids and two mechanical pipeline connectors, together with a suite of ROV deployed or operated tools for preparing and aligning the pipeline prior to the connector installation. The project management and engineering was performed at Subsea 7’s office in Aberdeen, and the in-country works supported from Subsea 7’s facilities in Luanda. The offshore operation comprised two separate phases. In the first, the permanent works equipment was installed on the seabed at the damage location.
Spool overboarding
In the second phase, the ends of the damaged pipeline were lifted, prepared and aligned before the mechanical connectors were installed, set and tested with annulus tests onto the previously installed spool piece. Final confirmation of the repair was achieved by a pipeline leak test from the Girassol floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which was completed in December 2009. Graham Sharland, Subsea 7’s chief operating officer – Africa Region, said, “We are delighted to have successfully completed this major pipeline repair project for Total. The Girassol repair represents another milestone in deepwater intervention. The solution, developed in-house by Subsea 7, has the potential to be used in a range of life-of-field applications as the equipment and technology is fully transferable. We look forward to many successful similar projects.” Pipeline repair system set up to simulate the connection of the pipeline to repair spool
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Girassol Pipeline Repair Project
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Pipe Measurement UK-based specialist measurement technology company Optical Metrology Services (OMS) has successfully completed a six-week pipe inspection study for BP Exploration in the Plutão, Saturno, Vênus and Marte (PSVM) deepwater development in Angola. The work was carried out on behalf of Technip, prime contractor for the design, procurement, fabrication and installation of the water and gas injection flowlines for the Block 31 URF 2 programme workscope. The contract, worth more than £650 000, required OMS to carry out an initial sample survey of pipe ends, followed by the detailed laser dimensional inspection, sorting and marking of more than 12 000 pipe ends including critical, fatigue-sensitive, flowline sections. As well as helping the customer to better implement the pipe end fit-up process and fatigue HiLo strengths, the study also ensured that the customer’s pipe welding time and counter-bore crew costs were minimised. OMS worked closely with Technip’s local subsidiary in Angola, Angoflex Ltda. The Block 31 deepwater oilfield covers an area of 5300km2 and lies in water depths of between 1500m and 2500m. Richard Gooch, director of technology at OMS commented: “OMS engineers measured every pipe
Pipeline measurement tooling
end and then marked these with a calibration block group code. This sorting process enabled the most round pipes to be allocated to the more critical sections of the pipeline. Identifying and marking pipe ends in this way ensured the least possible disruption to Technip’s fit-up process. The customer now has the basis for the fit-up of pipes to BP’s specification and HiLo fatigue strengths. “The accurate fit-up of fatigue-sensitive pipes is a highly critical factor when it comes to welding the pipe ends together. Not managing these issues can lead to delays in production and to weld problems, which in turn, can lead to stress concentrations in that region or expensive cut-outs and rework.”
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Pipelines
Pipelines Active Pipeline Supports – Adjusting for Engineering pipelines, spools and their terminations has long been a challenging field for the subsea oil industry. Tie-in tools and termination solutions have evolved over the years as a result of experience and development of new technology; hence the boundaries of what’s achievable have been pushed forward. Some lessons learned have had great impact on improving designs, for instance HISC problems in high-alloy flanges. The constant search to achieve simplified and more cost effective solutions with greater flexibility and enhanced capacities has pushed the limits continuously. However, it has emerged that the limits can’t be pushed indefinitely on all areas. It has reached a point where the margins are starting to narrow themselves. The load capabilities of pipeline steel, for instance, have definite limits and even though research and new material technology bring forward
improvements, there is a limited gain. As a result, one is now experiencing ever more stringent installation tolerances and a significant increase in the amount of engineering and analysis hours put in to projects. As designs are pushed closer to these limits, a demand for increased control of loads and moments in the pipeline and tie-in points emerges in order to not surpass the capacities present. During pipeline and spool installation, the loads and moments present vary significantly, as the different phases of the installation is conducted. A typical installation sequence is known to consist of the following phases; temporary lay down, pipeline flooding, termination to structure, pressure testing, pipeline pigging, MEG-filling and production. Analyses performed by Nemo Engineering indicate changes in hub moments for a specific pipeline termination point to fluctuate within a range of 800 kNm throughout an
installation scenario as indicated previously. Designing termination points with capacity for these load alternations proves to be a challenge. Long term effects such as settlements, seabed erosion and alteration in pipeline weight due to corrosion are all dynamic factors evolving slowly. yet inevitably changing the load scenario within the pipeline.
APS Solution for pipelines on the Pluto Field in NW Australia
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UT3 1Q 2010
There are basically two ways to approach these challenges; design the pipeline and termination with capacities large enough to handle the total expectance of long term effects or readjust the pipeline at some given point in order to correct for any deviations which have developed.
the Future
Pipelines
..... by Ronny Haldorsen Project Manager, Nemo Engineering AS
The challenge with the first approach is that it will lead to pipelines and terminations which are in fact over dimensioned for the design load which again will contribute to enhance the loads. In addition, one will have to sacrifice some capacity of the pipeline and termination for the purpose of arresting the loads present. Applying the optional approach, the pipeline and tied-in structures can be monitored over time, and deviations can be accounted for and corrected for when the time is deemed right. The positive gain with this approach is that pipeline, termination and structure design can be optimised. Pipeline load alternations due to changes in well stream are another ‘unknown’ factor, which by now means can be regarded as static when designing a pipeline system. The industry has come a long way predicting well production based on geotechnical surveys, sample drilling, 4D seismic and so far; however it is still in fact a best prediction. No one can say for sure how a well will play in 10-20 years. The exact amounts of water, oil or gas produced will be uncertain factors as for the amount of injected glycol necessary or the extent of pigging activities. Are flooding of gas producing pipelines and spools due to backflow during production stops taken into account when pipeline loads are determined in the design basis? These are all factors that need to be regarded as vital when determining the load scenario for the pipelines life cycle, and they are by no means static occurrences. Evidently static solutions can not be regarded as a favorable method of choice when designing pipeline systems and supporting structures for a long term life cycle purpose, hence a new approach is called for. Reviewing a pipeline system it is evident that introducing an adjustable support for the pipeline prior to the
termination point offers a possibility to control the loads in the pipeline through the entire lifecycle of the pipeline and increases the capacity of the termination points. One gains control over free spans and reduces the risk of fatigue in the pipeline and connected components such as valves. Active Pipeline Supports (APS) is a solution developed by Nemo Engineering in order to face the challenges related to pipeline tie-in points and pipeline life cycle load alterations. The APS system also offer a solution to previously undetectable problems during the design phase or problems due to unknown factors apparent at a later stage in pipeline life, without installing additional equipment subsea. It is a robust yet flexible solution.
APS with 20in pipeline installed on the Pluto Field NW Australia
If Active Pipeline Supports are accounted for in early design stages, design solutions with direct pipeline tie-in eliminating spools entirely are achievable.
APS Technology The development of the APS technology has resulted in two types of designs. The first type is a self adjusting APS which can be pre- or post installed. This type is primarily intended for spools and smaller pipelines. The APS can be attached to the pipeline during installation and be installed as an integrated part of the pipeline. Subsea it will be connected to a pre-charged hydraulic unit. These APS’s are self adjusting and will correct load alternations in the pipeline as they occur. For long term purposes they can be locked of and left as a permanent support. This concept offer the opportunity to regain control on loads in existing pipelines and spools and further more enables one to perform future corrections without installing additional equipment.
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APS Solutions Pre installed on spool for the Kristin field in the North Sea The Second type there is a ROV operated type which is designed primarily for pipelines and is pre installed. This type is a robust construction with load bearing capacities ranging from 0–60 tons or more. These are designed for all seabed conditions ranging from compact rock dumping to transverse sloping soft clay. Vertical adjustment of the pipeline is the standard feature and transverse adjustment of pipeline as an option. The APS is operated by ROV equipped with HPU and torque tool. Standard API Class 4 or 7 interfaces are preferred depending on pipeline loads. These APS’s weigh between 17 and 44t depending on soil interface and pipeline loads designed for.
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Pipeline Analysis for APS purposes Data from pipeline free span analyses performed by Nemo Engineering AS on a 20in pipeline laid across an APS prior to entering a flowline termination assembly supports the benefits of applying an APS solution in a pipeline system. The results indicate variations in hub moments in the range of 0, 800kNm for a pipeline without an APS solution. Introducing an APS in the system at a given location in the freespan prior to the termination with a fixed height will improve the results significantly. Hub moment variations are reduced to be within the range of -100, 250kNm. However if the APS is adjusted actively throughout the different phases of the pipeline installation the hub moment variations are reduced to be within the range of 0, 80kNm. As a result the hub moment variations are reduced by 720kNm, which should be considered as a significant improvement. The graph displays how the changes in hub moments are distributed for all three cases mentioned.
Ormen Lange APS
Moments at pipeline termination point Š Nemo engineering
Future demands and challenges The factors addressed results in limitations contradicting the demand for ever larger and longer pipelines in continuously deeper waters. Traditionally dredging, rock dumping and sandbagging have been the method of choice in order to optimize the pipeline route.
Shipping of the Pluto APS
The oil and gas industry is heading into deeper and environmentally more challenging waters with ever larger distances from shore. Consequently the traditional methods like rock dumping and sandbagging are no longer suitable as they are too time consuming and require specialized equipment and vessels to be mobilized. For the very same reason access for intervention and corrective operations on pipelines will be limited. As pipelines increase in size the benefits of being able to control moments and loads will become even more evident. The APS system provide a cost optimal solution for pipelines by means of reduced structure sizes, reduced demand for spools, reduced demand for rock dumping and optimized installation of pipelines i.e. reduced installation time. Utilizing an APS system means that the pipeline can be easily accessed with a minor vessel with WROV spread and adjusted during installation, tie-in operations and for the entire pipeline life cycle.
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Pluto APS with pipeline installed
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Exploration
Exploration
The Ocean Guardian
Falklands Falkland Oil and Gas Limited (FOGL) is set to drill its first exploration well off the Falkland Islands. The Diamond Offshore semisub Ocean Guardian will drill the Toroa prospect in the East Falklands basin, probably during the first half of this year. Late last year, Desire Petroleum negotiated a multi-well programme with the rig for its prospects in the North Falkland basin with the aim of releasing certain rig slots to other interested parties in the region. Rockhopper also has taken up this offer for its northern Falkland acreage. Desire Petroleum has four prospects
while Rockhopper will have two exploration wells drilled. The well on Toroa will be operated by FOGL’s partner BHP Billiton Petroleum. The company submitted an environmental statement last September to the Falklands Islands government to drill two wells on Toroa and the Loligo prospect in license areas PL015 and PL028. At that point, no rig had been commissioned. Toroa’s well, 160 km (99 mi) south of Port Stanley, will be the first ever drilled this far south. All previous exploration, during the multi-well campaign of
Windjammer Anadarko ‘s Windjammer exploration well in the frontier Rovuma basin, offshore Mozambique, has encountered more than 480ft net of natural gas pay in high-quality reservoir sands, with a gross column of more than 1200ft. The well lies in 4800 feet of water, approximately 30 miles east of the Mozambique coastline To date, this well has tested one of the seven identified play types in Anadarko’s operated acreage offshore Mozambique. Bob Daniels, Anadarko Sr. Vice President, Worldwide Exploration said: “This is true rank wildcat exploration, and to have our first deepwater exploration well result in a discovery,
1998, was in the North Falklands basin. According to the operational addendum for the environmental statement, the well should take 30-40 days to drill. AGR Petroleum Services has made a £2 million, folowing a contract by Desire and Rockhopper to provide logistical support and undertake a six well drilling programme in the North Falklands Basin. AGR has established a supply base in Port Stanley which required an initial loadout of approximately 9000t of cargo to be shipped from Aberdeen harbour.
WINDJAMMER DISCOVERY Offshore Mozambique
thus far, is a strong indication of the potential of this basin. The Windjammer discovery de-risks a substantial portion of approximately 50 leads and prospects that we’ve identified across our 2.6-million-acre position in the basin.”
OFFSHORE AREA 1 PROSPECTS 2010 EXPLORATION DRLG
APC Op perator APC Operator Operator OFFSHORE HORE AREA AREA 11 OFFSHORE OFFSH (APC (APC WI W 43%) (APC WII 43%)
3D Outline
After testing the deeper objectives in the well, Anadarko plans to move the Belford Dolphin drillship to its Collier prospect less than 50 miles southsoutheast of Windjammer. Anadarko also expects to drill two to four additional exploration wells in the Rovuma Basin this year, with initial well results from Windjammer and Collier determining which prospects are drilled next.
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IA AN NZ UE TA BIQ AM Z MO
Windjammer Windjammer Wind djammer Discovery Discovery Dis scovery
Collier Collier C ollierr
0 20 Kilometers
The Windjammer discovery
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Exploration
Exploration Gas discovery near Norne Statoil has discovered gas 2km south-west of the Norne field in the Norwegian Sea during the drilling of exploration well 6507/3-8. A gas column 143m high was identified in the Fangst and Båt group of the Middle and Lower Jurassic, with good reservoir properties. The find is estimated to contain 1.3-1.5 billion m3 of recoverable gas. “This discovery lies in an area where we’ve made a number of earlier finds,” explains Geir Richardsen, head of infrastructure-led exploration in the Norwegian Sea. “With detailed surveying and evaluation enhancing our knowledge, this area is still considered prospective.” No formation test was carried out in the well, which lies in 378m of water, but extensive data was gathered and cores were taken. The well was drilled to a total measured depth of 2968m below sea level and terminated in the Lower Jurassic Tilje formation. It will now be permanently plugged and abandoned. Producing the discovery through a tie-in to Norne will be considered by the licensees in production licence 159 B. This is the second well in the licence, which was awarded in 1989 as part of the 12B licensing round and carved out from PL 159 in 2004. Well 6507/3-8 was drilled by Ocean Vanguard, which will now move to PL 057 in the North Sea to drill exploration well 34/4-12S for Statoil as operator.
The Norne FPSO
Davy Jones McMoRan Exploration has discovered hydrocarbons on its Davy Jones prospect located on South Marsh Island Block 230 in approximately 20 feet of water. It follwoed the well with additional reserves. The ultradeep well was drilled to a measured depth of 28 263ft and logged with pipe-conveyed wireline logs to 28,134 feet. The wireline log results indicated a total of 135 net ft of hydrocarbon bearing sands in four zones in the Wilcox section of the Eocene/Paleocene. Drilling deeper, to 28 603, the well discovered an additionial 65ft. Flow testing will be required
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Tweneboa to confirm the ultimate hydrocarbon flow rates. McMoRan’s Co-Chairman, James R. Moffett, said: “Davy Jones log results confirm our geologic model and indicate that the previously identified sands in the Wilcox section on this large ultra-deep structure provides significant additional development potential. This could make Davy Jones one of the largest discoveries on the Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico in decades. “The geologic results from this well are important and are redefining the subsurface geologic landscape below 20 000ft on the Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico.”
UT3 1Q 2010
Tullow Oil ‘s Tweneboa-2 appraisal well, some 6 km southeast of the Tweneboa-1 discovery,offshore Ghana, has intersected a significant combined hydrocarbon column. The Atwood Hunter semi-submersible drilled Tweneboa-2 in the Deepwater Tano block to an interim depth of 3860m in water depths of 1321m. The well has encountered a gross reservoir interval of 153m containing 32m of net hydrocarbon pay in stacked reservoir sandstones, comprising a 17m oil bearing zone below a 15m gascondensate bearing zone.A combined hydrocarbon column of at least 350m has been established between the lowest known oil in Tweneboa-2 and the top of the gas-condensate at Tweneboa-1,
Satyr
Jake Helix Energy Solutions Group subsidiary, Energy Resource Technology GOM has made a Gulf of Mexico deepwater oil and gas discovery at its Jake prospect, located in Green Canyon Block 490. The discovery well was drilled to 13 504ft in 3740ft of water and encountered 134ft of net oil and gas pay in a single sand interval. The well was conventionally wireline logged with multiple fluid samples recovered for confirmation of the hydrocarbon bearing zone. The well has been cased and temporarily abandoned for a future subsea completion.
Lucius and Itaipu Anadarko has discovered oil on its Lucius exploration well in Keathley Canyon block 875. The well encountered more than 200 feet of net pay in subsalt Pliocene and Miocene sands. Lucius is a three-way structure against salt, and the results of the well indicate thick reservoir sands with very good porosity and permeability. Adadarko plans to immediately drill an up-dip LUCIUS DISCOVERY TEXAS
LOUISIANA
RED HAWK Cell Spar
Keathley Canyon 874
875
LUCIUS DISCOVERY APC WI 50.00%
0
919
920
HADRIAN
3
963
964
1007
1008
Miles
ANADARKO WI BLOCKS ANADARKO FIELDS INDUSTRY DISCOVERY APC DISCOVERY
Exploration
.....
39
PHOBOS PROSPECT
40
Following the discovery, Helix’s estimate for this prospect is 50–75 Bcfe gross. Development options are currently underway, including a potential joint development with a recent discovery made in the area. First production from the Jake discovery is estimated to take place in mid 2011. ERT owns a 25% working interest in both the discovery well and Green Canyon Block 490. ERT has made an additional new Gulf of Mexico shelf discovery at its 75% owned and operated South Timbalier 145 Field. The new discovery was drilled to 14 193 true vertical depth and logged approximately 20ft of oil and gas pay.
sidetrack appraisal well to delineate the reservoir’s areal extent. Additionally, the proximity and availability the Red Hawk cell spar enhances its potential development options and offers the opportunity to accelerate the production of these resources. The Lucius discovery was drilled to a total depth of about 20 000 ft in approximately 7100 ft of water, using the new ultra-deepwater Ensco 8500 semi-submersible drilling rig. The up-dip sidetrack appraisal well will be drilled on the same block, approximately 3200ft due south of the discovery. Anadarko also recently announced its second pre-salt discovery in Brazil at the Itaipu prospect in block BMC-32 in the Campos Basin. The well encountered more than 90ft of oil in a high-quality pre-salt carbonate reservoir of similar characteristics and quality to the neighboring giant Jubarte complex. The Itaipu well was drilled to a total depth of approximately 16 300 ft in 4400ft of water. The Itaipu well is located approximately 16 miles north of Anadarko’s original Wahoo discovery and six miles southeast of Petrobras’ pre-salt Jubarte
Petroleum Corporation
Chevron has made an additional natural gas discovery in the Carnarvon Basin offshore Western Australia. This follows closely on the Achilles-1 discovery, The exploration well, Satyr-1, located 160km (100 miles) offshore in the Greater Gorgon Area in 1070m (3510 ft) of water, was drilled to a total depth of 4560m (14 960 ft). The well discovered 130m (425ft) of net gas pay. Thedrilling campaign in northwestern is expected to provide additional natural gas supplies to underpin the Chevron-operated Gorgon natural gas project,
complex, which is currently flowing light oil on a long-term test through the Jubarte FPSO. Partners in Itaipu are currently planning a sidetrack to this well and anticipate further appraisal drilling in 2010. Anadarko is also preparing to sidetrack Wahoo #2 to gather additional data from the well. Once sidetrack drilling is complete, it is planned to move the rig to the Wahoo discovery well to conduct a drillstem test and then return to Wahoo #2 for another drillstem test. ITAIPU DISCOVERY
Espírito Santo Basin
BRAZIL
Campos Basin 0
Santos Basin
50 Kilometers
Jubarte Complex
1st Well Producing ~18,000 BOE/d Pre-Salt Resources ~2 BBOE
BM-C-32 33% WI
ITAIPU DISCOVERY APC WI 33.3%
ANADARKO WI BLOCKS INDUSTRY PRE-SALT DISCOVERIES PROSPECTS NEW DISCOVERY RECENT SUCCESS DRILLING
BM-C-30 30% WI
WAHOO #2 WAHOO 0
10
Kilometers
Petroleum Corporation
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Subsea Operations
Subsea
Operations
Well Enhancer The latest addition to the Helix Energy Solutions Group global well intervention fleet, Well Enhancer, successfully completed her inaugural well intervention project on Nexen Petroleum UK,’s Buzzard S2 well in the North Sea in October 2009. The well intervention was carried out following comprehensive system trials,
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including personnel familiarisation and training on a test well provided by Nexen. The Subsea Intervention Lubricator, (SIL), a 73/8 in bore single-trip system – designed and built in house by Helix Well Operations – was successfully deployed via the vessel’s integrated skidding and handling system in
UT3 1Q 2010
adverse weather conditions. The vessel’s performance exceeded expectations; with a significant wave height of 5m and winds of 45kts, heave at the moonpool rarely exceeded 2m. “The Well Enhancer’s moonpool design and skidding system, coupled with our ability to disconnect and reconnect the control umbilicals
subsea, enabled us to work safely in weather conditions that would have sidelined other intervention vessels,” said Steve Nairn, Regional Vice President of Helix Well Ops UK. “Thanks to these features unique to Well Enhancer, the operation was completed on schedule in spite of difficult weather.”
Over the course of the ten day operation, the Well Enhancer performed production logging, fluid sampling and wireline services including sand detection and flow profiling on the well. The S2 water injection well was entered with a combined log/fluid sampling service and all onboard systems were used successfully.
UT3 1Q 2010
Construction on the vessel began at the IHC Krimpen shipyard in July 2007, with the Christening ceremony taking place in May 2008. The Well Enhancer then underwent fitting of its multipurpose tower and specialised well intervention equipment prior to sea trials.
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Subsea Survey
Subsea
Survey Thickness Gauges
Browse Pipeline
Eiva Navimodel
Tritex NDT has launched its new Multigauge 4000 series ROV thickness gauges for mounting onto most work class vehicles.
The Australian office of Fugro GEOS has been awarded a contract by Woodside Energy to undertake a year-long metocean study along the proposed pipeline route for the Browse LNG development which will run from the gas fields to the planned Kimberley LNG Precinct at James Price Point, about 60km north of Broome in Western Australia.
EIVA has released the new NaviModel software for ocean mapping, data analysis and interpretation. The software provides intuitive 3D visualisation of infinite survey data sets by integration of multiple data formats and sources using user defined templates.
The range includes the Multigauge 4100 and Multigauge 4400 which are for use in depths of 1000m and 4000m respectively. These new products mean that pipelines, pilings and subsea structures can now be easily inspected in shallow and deep water applications, and without the need for using divers. They use multiple echo to ensure coatings do not have to be removed, only the metal substrate is measured. Additionally, they have intelligent probe recognition (IPR) and automatic measurement verification system (AMVS). The gauges have either an RS422 or RS232 output. To accompany the Multigauge 4000, Tritex have developed communication software, for use on a PC or laptop, to display and record the measurements and associated data such as the time and a descriptive label if required. Templates can be set up to store measurements in a grid, string or combination of both.
“This is a major contract for our new Australian office, we are very pleased to be working with Woodside on this significant project,” explains Mark Wimshurst, Australian Manager of Fugro GEOS. “Our role will be to undertake metocean measurement studies along the entire length of the proposed pipeline route from the fields to the proposed LNG Precinct.” The contract covers an onshore meteorological measurement programme and a nearshore and offshore metocean measurement programme. A 30m meteorological tower will be installed onshore to measure meteorological parameters and air quality in order to establish onsite baselines. Data from all the sensors on the tower will be transmitted by Iridium links and uploaded to a secure website for retrieval by the client. The nearshore and offshore programme calls for the deployment of approximately 20 current meter moorings installed at between 8m and 200m water depths as well as two Fugro OCEANOR Wavescan buoys (with dual met masts and loggers), three directional waveriders (DWR’s), long period wave recorders, tide gauges and surface current drifters.
Multigauge 4000 ROV thickness gauges
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A number of the current meter moorings will include thermistor measurements to support the detection of solitons (internal waves).
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NaviModel includes features for data cleaning either manually or through use of advanced semi or fully automated tools as well as creation of own filters by use of plug-in function. Digital terrain models (DTM) are displayed in real-time fly-through fashion featuring different color modes and palettes in addition to adjustment of light source. Difference models and volume calculations are visualized by colouring the resulting DTM in difference modes. Terrain manipulation is performed by levelling out depth differences between lines by skewing lines toward an average surface representation. Special pipe line modelling capabilities comprise pipe and flag editing in real-time 3D environment and support of export formats including SITRAS through user defined templates. NaviModel further provides special facilities by which it is possible to match DTM, video and events and thus visualize run-line, ROV track, pipeline, flags, events and DTM all in the same 3D environment. Moreover NaviModel provides tools for automatic export of data in terms of shaded reliefs, soundings, contours, bathymetry, longitudinal and cross profiles, etc. as well as export directly to AutoCad supporting content in relevant layers. Navimodel
GEMS OSIL MiniBAT
Subsea Survey
..... The Geotechnical Engineering and Marine Surveys (GEMS) group has purchased an OSIL MiniBAT system to carry out sound velocity (SV) measurements at a 50 km2 site in Asia. The OSIL MiniBAT FC60 is a lightweight remotely controlled instrument platform designed for use with a range of sensors. The towed system was able to provide continuous measurement without the need to stop the vessel. The MiniBAT was fitted with the AML Minos SVP which directly measures the time-of-flight of an acoustic ping. Its compact size is ideally suited to the highly portable MiniBAT frame.
OSIL MiniBAT FC60
MacArtney Seabed Mapping Understanding the inland underwater environment Ireland’s inshore water areas are an enormous source of income and activity. The most important starting point to mapping and measuring impact is to understand the waters and seabed as they are currently. MacArtney recently supplied sonar equipment is mapping the seabed both in and around Ireland onboard the newly inaugurated inshore survey vessel, Keary and onboard the Celtic Explorer. In an extensive project, the Infomar programme is currently surveying
the 125,000km2 of inshore waters to produce integrated maps showing the physical, biological and chemical makeup of the seabed. The Keary has been equipped with MacArtney supplied side scan sonar and full-spectrum sub-bottom profiler housed in a retractable pod. It will spend the next few years mapping the inshore seabed, the side scan sonar investigating the topography and the first layers of sediment. MacArtney supplied side scan sonar system will map 125 000m2 of inshore water areas in Ireland. The complete side scan sonar and sub-bottom
profiler system on the Keary also includes a MacArtney side scan winch, topside processors and acquisition and processing software, digital links and coax and deck cables. In another part of the Infomar programme, a moving vessel profiler (MVP) aboard the vessel, Celtic Explorer, will be mapping the offshore seabed. This survey is part of a Europe-wide initiative to provide a complete picture of underwater habitats and seabed. Surveying and map work will continue for several years to come and will provide a complete marine atlas for waters in and around Ireland.
Acoustic Current Profiler LinkQuest has recently extended its popular FlowQuest acoustic current profiler line to include the small and lightweight FlowQuest 2000 system. The FlowQuest 2000 system operates at 2 MHz with a blank distance as short as 10cm. The system is about 12.6cm in diameter, 21cm in length and weighs less than 1.4 kgs in water. The FlowQuest 2000 system is capable of reaching up to 20m in range with an accuracy
of up to 0.25% +/- 2.5 mm/s. The standard depth rating of the system is 800m with options for 100, 1500, 3000 and 6000m. This system also has an optional discharge measurement function. The FlowQuest 2000 acoustic current profiler is used for measuring discharge, currents and flows in shallow waters or for short range applications. It is particularly useful when a minimum blank distance is desirable.
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The FlowQuest 2000 system
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Subsea Survey
Subsea
Survey Underwater Metal Detection A number of US Navy dive teams are employing underwater metal detectors in their search and recovery operations. These teams include Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Units 4 and 11, Underwater Construction Team 2 and the SEAL Delivery Vehicle team (SDV-1) in Pearl City, Hawaii. They use detectors for a variety of tasks such as locating explosive devices and weapons, finding anchors and chains, tracking pipelines and cables, and searching for tools that are dropped from ships and piers. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also uses underwater detectors in its search operations. The Bureau’s divers are often called to assist state and local law enforcement agencies in their search for a weapon thrown in a waterway. Criminals mistakenly believe if they dispose of a gun or knife in the water, it will be lost forever. FBI dive teams continually prove them wrong by recovering the weapons, even when they’re buried deep in mud. In one case, the team managed to find all the pieces of a hand gun that was completely disassembled before being tossed into a river. Alcohol, tobacco and firearms (ATF) is another bureau using these hightech tools. Their explosive training branch (ETB) recently added a detector to their arsenal. ETB conducts programs for local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to teach identification and location of explosives, and how to properly handle and dispose of them. With the threat of a terrorist attack on any front, officers need to know how to search for, and locate, explosive devices that are attached to ships, bridges, piers, and other underwater structures. US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) use these instruments to locate metal objects when doing site inspections for environmental
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A diver using underwater metal detectors
clean ups, like the one recently conducted at the former Hammond Bombing and Gunnery Range in Louisiana. The Corps’ hazardous, toxic and radiological waste (HTRW) branch recently picked up a couple of underwater detectors to assist in their restoration operations at former defense sites. One detector commonly used in all of these teams is JW Fishers’ Pulse 8X, a commercial grade machine designed for industrial and military operations. The FBI’s dive units in New York, California, Florida, and Washington DC have has purchased a quantity of these high performance locators along with interchangeable coils. Six different coils can be attached to the electronics unit which gives the detector great versatility. It can be used on land, diving to depths of 200ft or deployed from a boat. The National Marine Fisheries Services, a branch of NOAA, also picked up a detector for its Milford Laboratory in Connecticut. The facility conducts research on culturing fish and shellfish, development methods for commercial use, stock enhancement, and restoration. They join scientists from as far away as Hong Kong and Australia using underwater metal detectors for their marine resource management programs. The Department of Agriculture,
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Fisheries, and Conservation in Hong Kong are using a Pulse 8X with a probe coil to find metal plates buried in the beach that mark the location of sea turtle nests. Department spokesman KS Cheung says, “In the past we used some cheap detectors, but their performance was poor. Our colleagues at Taiwan University were doing the same work using the Fisher model and reported excellent results; they convinced us to switch detectors.” In Australia, Dr. Tasman Crowe, a scientist with the Centre for International Agriculture and Research is using his 8X to monitor shellfish populations. He studies the movements of marine snail colonies by detecting small metal tags affixed to their shells and tracking their movement over time. Other federal government agencies using this detection gear are the US Border Patrol, US Forestry Service and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Each of these agencies has a different use for their detector. It helps the Border Patrol search for weapons that are disposed of, and sometimes hidden in, rivers and water holes. It aids the Forest Service in locating chains implanted in river banks to secure soil and vegetation, and it assists the EPA in locating drums of hazardous waste that are disposed of in our nation’s waterways.
Hallin Expansion Hallin Marine has announced a major expansion of its West Division, committing its new build vessel to the region, unveiling a move into saturation diving and looking to recruit more staff and move to new premises. The Aberdeen based West Division will take delivery of the US$50 million new build subsea operations vessel (SOV) Windermere in the second quarter of 2010.
Oceaneering DSV Oceaneering International has commissioned the construction of a dive support vessel (DSV) with an estimated capital cost of $17 million. Oceaneering expects delivery of the 200ft by 46ft vessel from a Gulf coast shipyard late in the fourth quarter of 2010. The new vessel will replace the Ocean Project, which was built in 1972.
The West Division of the integrated subsea contractor has, until now, focussed on the operation of its own fleet of remote operated vehicles (ROVs). It is looking to operate the new vessel in the Middle East, Mediterranean and West Africa areas. The Windermere, which will be managed out of Aberdeen, is fitted with a 15-man saturation diving system, an air diving spread, two heavy duty work-class ROVs and an inspection class vehicle. The diesel electric, Voith propulsion DP 2 vessel has a 50 tonne, active heave compensated crane and accommodation for 120 crew and operational staff. The 80m, Windermere will be supported by an experienced onshore project engineering capability.
Operations
Operations This state-of-the-art DSV will be US flagged and outfitted to perform subsea inspection, repair, and maintenance (IRM) services and support construction operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The vessel will have built-in diving equipment, including a dive control system and decompression chambers, to maximise the availability of deck space for job specific equipment and to ensure safe working conditions. It will have accommodations for 50 personnel and be equipped with a 40t crane, a working moon pool, and a four-point mooring system enabling operations in 700ft of seawater. The Ocean Project, which is due to retire
The US$50 million new build subsea operations vessel (SOV) Windermere
Alam Maritim Oil and gas offshore marine support service provider Alam Maritim Resources Bhd, is looking to strengthen its presence overseas, particularly in the Middle East and Indonesia this year. Speaking to the Malaysian news resource The Star, the group’s managing director Azmi Ahmad confirmed that he hadstarted making inroads into the Middle East as part of its strategies to widen its customer base. “Alam Maritim, together with a third party, has set up operation in Dubai that marked the group’s first foray into the region.We are also looking to expand in Indonesia via a joint venture with a local partner,” he told StarBiz. Azmi added that the penetration into foreign markets was preparation for the expected daily charter rates reduction of between 10% and 20% next year compared with all-time high rates when the oil price reached its peak previously. In terms of fleet expansion, Alam Maritim via whollyowned subsidiary Alam Maritim agreed to a 51:49 joint venture with Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) to invest and jointly own six anchor handling tug supply vessels valued at US$121.5million. On the outlook for the JV vessels, Azmi said Malaysian oil majors typically gave priority to Malaysian-owned assets and operators when dishing out local contracts.
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Tectonic Detector Falmouth Scientific Inc (FSI) has supplied a solarpowered autonomous underwater vehicle (SAUV) to the University of Tokyo for use in monitoring tectonic plate movement. The SAUV is a compact, man-portable AUV designed for autonomous operation for long periods (weeks to months) without requiring maintenance, servicing, or recharging. The vehicle can be pre-programmed to submerge to depths down to 500m, to transit to designated waypoints, or to operate on the surface during conditions suitable for battery charging via solar energy input. With a square metre of solar panels, the SAUV can collect from 300 to 900WHr/ day and carries 2.4KWHr on-board,
rechargeable batteries, providing sufficient power for extended missions with large user payloads and frequent communications. For this project, the SAUV has been equipped with a specialised transducer to receive precise slant range data from seabedmounted transponders along with a real time kinematic (RTK) GPS, IXSEA PHotonic inertial navigation system (PHINS) motion reference unit and a TRDI WorkHorse acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP), The combination of precise data from the underwater transponders, RTK GPS, and IXSEA MRU will allow researchers to monitor tectonic plate movements on the scale of millimetres per kilometre.
Iver2 Australian Marine Ecology has purchased an Iver2 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) from OceanServer Technology. This vehicle, equipped with OceanServer’s new dual port camera system, will be used in a broad range of upcoming research initiatives that include coral reef mapping in shallow lagoon habitats of the Lihou Reef in the Coral Sea. Other reef work will include ongoing monitoring and measurements of the coral bleaching and crown-ofthorns starfish. The vehicle will also collect data to better examine habitat conditions and mapping of marine protected areas, as well as for design of seabed infrastructure.
with OceanServer’s VectorMap Mission Planning and Data Presentation tool, which provides geo-registered data files that can be easily exported to other software analysis tools. This unique software design, coupled to a growing variety of sensors, has enabled OceanServer to carve out a strong position in the research space for autonomous underwater vehicles. The VectorMap program can input National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) electronic navigation charts (ENCs) or any geo-referenced chart, map or photo image, allowing the operator to intuitively develop AUV missions using simple point-andclick navigation.
The Australian Marine Ecology personnel spend up to 100 days in the field each year, including hundreds of hours underwater in a variety of environments and conditions. The scientific team is one of the most active in southern Australia, and is heavily involved in underwater surveys for fisheries, environmental impact assessment and ecological research. The Iver2 AUV will be another critical asset for the organisation, along with fully equipped laboratories, a scientific diving team, remotely opeated vehicles (ROVs), and a variety of instrumented surface vessels already offered by Australian Marine Ecology. All Iver2 AUV models come standard Iver 2 AUV
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Gavia Aids Cutter Discovery Late last year, the US Coast Guard cutter Alexander Hamilton was found with the aid of a Gavia AUV, 67 years after being torpedoed by a German Uboat in January 1942, while escorting a convoy to Iceland. Within sight of land, the final resting place of the Treasury class Alexander Hamilton WPG-34, was finally identified in September 2009, during an Icelandic coast guard (ICG) operation using a Gavia AUV. This was the first US loss in the Atlantic after the Pearl Harbour attacks on 7th December 1941. Shortly after receiving a new aircraft with specialised pollution detection equipment in July 2009, the ICG detected traces of oil on the surface invisible to the naked eye in an area not known to contain any wrecks.
to insert the GeoSwath module when required. Navigation of the system was from a Doppler velocity log (DVL)-aided inertial navigation system (INS). From the data gathered, it was possible to ascertain that the vessel is lying on its starboard side roughly at a 45deg angle in around 95m depth. It was also possible to see the evidence of the massive damage from the torpedo which left roughly an 11m-long hole in the bottom of the ship. Further video data from the ROV of the ships’ running gear determined without a doubt that this was the Alexander Hamilton. According to Capt. Halldór Nellet,
chief of operations, ICG: “The Gavia AUV proved to be a powerful tool in the Icelandic Coast Guards identification of the Alexander Hamilton, providing us with a clearer picture of the vessel in its entirety including the damage sustained and how the wreck lies on the sea bottom, through high quality sidescan and bathymetric data from a man portable platform and was a valuable asset in this operation.”
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..... The finding of the Alexander Hamilton is historically significant as it is the first ship lost by the US in the Atlantic, and for the fact that 20 men who were killed during this torpedo attack went down with the ship.
Soon thereafter, a survey vessel was dispatched to the area which did a multibeam sonar survey using a relatively low frequency system. While able to survey large swathes of the ocean bottom, it was not able to provide much resolution on contacts. It did reveal, however, an uncharted wreck. As a result of these findings, a subsequent operation was planned with the ICG cutter Ægir, in order to identify the wreck. It also attempted to try and obtain higher resolution sidescan sonar and bathymetric data from a Gavia AUV and video footage from an accompanying remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The Gavia AUV was operated from a rigid inflatable boat from the Ægir in sea state 4–5. Small boat operations in these conditions were quite difficult for the AUV operators. The high swells and limited visibility presented challenges both for launch and recovery and, to a greater extent, the visual relocation of the vehicle, even with a known GPS position. The Gavia AUV that was used during the operation was equipped with a 600kHz Side Scan Sonar and a 500kHz GeoSwath module was employed as well. As the Gavia AUV is a modular system it was possible
Recovery of Gavia AUV to Icelandic Coast Guard RIB
Mission Record for Gavia Hafmynd and Fugro Survey in a joint initiative with Woodside Energy, have successfully trialed a Gavia Offshore Surveyor AUV down to a subsea depth of 1000m. This significantly surpasses the previous maximum recorded depth of 220m achieved by a Gavia vehicle.
The record-breaking dive to 1000m was part of a series of customer acceptance trials recently completed offshore Perth, Australia. The AUV was set to run a grid of survey lines at an altitude of 12m above the seabed, recording both side-scan sonar and swath bathymetric data.
The Gavia’s modular configuration enables the inclusion of various payloads in addition to the base vehicle configuration, such as an inertial navigation system, GeoSwath bathymetric sonar and additional battery modules for increased endurance.
This was followed by a survey line run at only 2m above the seabed, designed to collect seabed habitat photographs. Dive time from the surface to 1000m was approximately 30 minutes. Based on this expected survey, the duration at this depth could exceed 6 hours.
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Vehicles HUGIN Portable
A HUGIN 1000 portable AUV system was recently demonstrated to the Korean Navy. The portable AUV system is fully containerised into one 20ft ISO container for storage, battery management, vehicle maintenance and launch and recovery (LAR), and one 10ft ISO container for mission planning, vehicle checkout, mission execution and post-mission analysis (PMA). This advanced AUV system covers a wide range of operations like mine countermeasures, route survey and high-quality bathymetric mapping surveys in areas of interest. The main advantage of the HUGIN AUV is its small overall system footprint. This is primarily due to the multi-function 20ft container providing AUV storage, shipping, maintenance, battery charging launch and recovery facilities. Due to compactness of the 10ft operations container, only two operators are needed for the entire operation. The system allows fast and easy mobilisation onto vessels of opportunity due to ISO
containerisation, well-defined and simple interface points, and the self-sufficient nature of the system. The entire system fits on a standard truck, and can use all standard shipping methods, including overnight airlift to anywhere in the world. AUV operations are run directly from the 10ft ISO container, with no need to tie into a ship’s systems or internal spaces. In the portable system, a Kongsberg High-Precision Acoustic Positioning (HiPAP) 350 system and a tow-fish transducer for acoustic communication are included, as well as a Kongsberg SeaPath system for accurate ship reference position and attitude. The 20ft container includes a twostage LAR ‘stinger’ (hydraulically controlled hinged ramp) which allows AUV operations from vessels with a stern freeboard of up to 5m. Both ISO containers are insulated and equipped with heating systems to enable operations in Arctic environments, as well as air condition system for operations in tropical climate.
Recent Demonstrations The HUGIN 1000 Portable AUV System was recently demonstrated in Korean waters. The operations were carried out by Kongsberg’s AUV Department in close cooperation with the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) in the Republic of Korea (ROK). The sea trials took place south-west of the city of Busan and covered both search for mines in shallow and deeper waters. The HUGIN AUV executed all test dives autonomously without problems in up to sea state four. “It took one week, from start of transportation in Horten to the time the HUGIN 1000 first touched the Korean waters,” said Svein Otto Schjerven, manager of the HUGIN AUV. “The first operation of this kind using the HUGIN 1000 system was a great success and demonstrated fully, the capacity of such an AUV system.”
The Hugin AUV on a Korean naval vessel
The AUV in its 20ft container Inset: Installed on a Krean Navy vesse
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.....
Remus for Florida Atlantic Florida Atlantic University (FAU) has ordered two REMUS 100 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) systems from Hydroid. The two vehicles will be operated by FAU’s Institute for Ocean and Systems Engineering. They are part of FAU’s National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation Program (NSF MRI) award and
are intended to complement FAU’s capabilities and enable research in cooperative behavior between AUVs. According to Edgar An, Principal Investigator on the NSF award, the two new REMUS 100 systems will be used to advance research in use of multiple AUVs and in high-speed data communication. It is expected that the REMUS vehicles and the associated
research will benefit new research opportunities at the Institute. These will include the development of fixed and mobile autonomous surface and underwater platforms for studies of coastal processes, studies of ocean noise and its impact on marine mammals, air-sea interaction, and characterisation of electromagnetic fields in the coastal oceans.
Tracking trials SeeByte, the global leader in creating smart software for unmanned vehicles, has completed a successful confined area search (CAS) trial on Bluefin Robotics’ Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (HAUV) with the US Office of Naval Research. The goal of the trial was to demonstrate the automatic tracking of the propeller shafts of a ship hull. In this task, the HAUV and SeeByte’s control technology software detected both shafts, tracked each and returned to the starting point autonomously.
The CAS technology proved it was able to communicate, take control and act out an inspection task, showcase real-time 3-D reconstruction of the complex areas and accomplish all of this autonomously. This technology can be utilised by the military for mine identification/verification and port and harbour security measures, as well as for pipeline inspections and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) ship hull inspections for the offshore oil and gas industry.
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“We are pleased to see the success of this system and value the mutually beneficial partnership we’ve had with SeeByte,” commented Dr. Jerome Vaganay, Bluefin Robotics Project Manager. “The underwater security sector is continuously growing and demanding new capability. The technological accomplishments demonstrated by the HAUV with the SeeByte software will prove beneficial for a number of new applications even beyond the security sector.”
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Vehicles
Trenching Control System The Aberdeen-based ROV manufacturer Sub-Atlantic has completed the assembly and integration of a power and control system to an underwater trenching vehicle for CT Offshore of Denmark. The £500 000 project, which took just six weeks to complete, was a departure from the normal type of system built in the Aberdeen factory. The tracked vehicle is believed to be one of the most compact systems ever built. Its first deployment will be aboard the dynamically positioned vessel MV Nico working on a wind farm in the UK sector of the North Sea.
The bespoke system was designed by CT Offshore and GEO Marine with specialist input on propulsion and advanced control systems from Sub-Atlantic, specifically for operating in the hostile near-shore environment of fast moving, turbid waters. The vehicle uses a Sub-Atlantic surface transformer running a Comanche ROV powertrain which comprises four horizontal and three vertical SPE 250 brushless thrusters. The Sub-Atlantic-supplied surface control unit operates subCAN control software for advanced operations and diagnostics down to circuit-board component level and employs a specialist survey pod for control and diagnosis of the survey sensor suite. Sub-Atlantic-built hydraulic power units, motor and compensators were also integrated into the vehicle.
CT Offshore’s underwater trenching vehicle
Observers Subsea Tech has delivered four Observer ROVs to the Gendarmerie Maritime (French Coast Guard). Two will be used in le Havre harbour, while the other pair will be used in Marseilles.
3.5kts. In its standard version, it is equipped with two high definition/high sensitivity cameras and can carry a mini sonar (Tritech Micron DST or equivalent) and a two-function manipulator.
The vehicles are to be used mainly for commercial ships’ hull inspection but could be also involved in various investigation and expertise missions.
Earlier, the company had completed work on the first of the custom-built XLRs for the Romanian client Grup Servicii Petroliere (GSP), which will see its immediate deployment in offshore Russia. Now, PSS has announced a second contract win, which will see it provide another XLR system to Technocean with delivery in June 2010. The XLR is the latest evolution of the successful Triton series and ‘baby brother’ to the heavy-duty XLX. Designed and manufactured by PSS, the 125hp vehicle has been designed for drill and light construction work and incorporates the latest controls technology, the revolutionary integrated real-time control engine (ICE), intuitive graphic user interface and ergonomic pilot control consoles with touch-screen technology. “The XLR is the next step in the evolution of subsea systems which started with the XL,” said Rory Satterfield, VP – Products Division, Triton Group which owns Perry Slingsby. “Our aim was to create an innovative system which offers the utmost in efficiency and reliability for the lightweight end of the market. “A key element in its success is its compatibility with the XLX and other vehicles. This allows subsea operators to be fully flexible in the scope of jobs they can undertake and cross utilise various parts such as thrusters, umbilicals, cameras and valve packs. “Each of these systems are built to order, so they can feature a range of components tailored specifically to meet the needs of our customers who operate in some of the most challenging and demanding environments,” said Slatterfield.
The ROV measures 17.7ins long and can operate in 500ft water depths at a speed of Observer mini ROVs
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Perry Slingsby Systems (PSS) will deliver the first of its latest generation Triton XLR ROVs to the offshore industry this month and has announced a further contract win for the XLR in deals totalling £3.8million.
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Subsea Support Course The Underwater Centre, along with Lochaber College UHI, is set to deliver a brand new qualification specifically to target those living in the local community. It has been designed so that previous subsea experience will not be necessary.
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XLR
..... The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) subsea support skills course was devised and written in just over three months and has been fully accredited by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). A total of eight students will be selected for the course, which is being funded by the European Social Fund and is due to start at the beginning of next year. The 18-week course will cover a range of subjects including electronics, ROV systems, fibre optics and lifting equipment. Central to the course will be the hands-on experience of flying a vehicle and training in lifelike conditions. Students will be based at the Underwater Centre for 10 weeks and at Lochaber College for the remaining eight.
The Perry Slingsby Systems XLR
“The new acquisition will be installed onboard the GSP Prince, the geotechnical and diving/ROV support vessel which entered the company fleet in September 2009. “At the moment, we have firm operational commitments both for the vessel and the subsea equipment featuring the custombuilt XLR ROV, in two of our offshore construction projects, Galata and Olympia,” said Fanel Hahui, GSP’s chief executive officer. “We will also use the Triton XLR ROV in subsea operations carried out under the TPAO contract. The
vessel’s operation is currently under review for this contract”, At present, GSP is carrying out three offshore construction contracts with a total value of over US$400 million.
Students who complete the course will then be able to work in the ROV sector which is set to see a significant growth in the next four years, according to a new report from top industry analysts Douglas Westwood, which has revealed that, following a slow down this year, the ROV industry will be worth $3.2 billion by 2014.
GSP’s new XLR ROV is rated up to 2000m with 125hp. It comes with an extended length tether management system that is compatible with either the XLR or XLX vehicles. The Technocean vehicle is rated to 3000m and will be delivered with a tether management system complete with Det Norske Veritas rated power system and specific tooling skid.
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The Underwater Centre
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Vehicles
Over recent years, SMD has been gradually planning its nextgeneration remotely operated vehicle (ROV) system. This would incorporate all the latest technological advances and operational experiences that the company had gained with its Q-series of ROVs. The result is the new Atom. This entry-level hydraulic workclass ROV is designed to carry out applications that require more power than electric vehicles, yet can operate from a limited deck space, such as drill support work from older rigs or smaller barges. The model supersedes SMD’s Quark and Quasar Compact models while sitting below the medium sized Quasar and flagship Quantum in SMD’s work-class vehicle range.
Atomic Power
The Atom measures 2m in length and 1.5m in both width and height. It is rated up to 3000m, although there are no major issues in the basic design that would prevent it from going deeper. SMD is currently constructing a unit for a client using much of the same componentry, but designed for use in 6000m water depths. “We have listened closely to clients” said Mark Collins, SMD sales manager, “and learned a considerable amount about their specific and predicted future demands since we brought out the Q-series vehicles three years ago. We quickly recognised that most common requirements from an operator was an ROV with a small footprint yet retaining the power, toughness and rigidity necessary for full-sized manipulator work. “We have been able to achieve this favourable size/power ratio in the design by a combination of advanced structural design and component miniaturisation.” The Atom incorporates a small, light Curvetech hydraulic power unit in either 60 or 100hp variants. This feeds hydraulic energy to both propulsion and tooling circuits.
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SMD’s new Atom ROV design
“This fully hydraulic system we have engineered negates the complexity of two independent propulsion and tooling technologies that are commonly found on equivalently sized electric ROVs,” said Collins.
This approach has all but eliminated the need for the historically large air-filled control pod that is characteristic of many ROVs. The new pod is a quarter of the size of the old design.”
“We have also modified the control system, incorporating high density electronics to ensure components are as small as possible.
The design employs twin, highdensity multiplexers located in the junction boxes on each side of the vehicle. The multiplexers act as
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network hubs for the processing carried out at the surface, with each subsea component acting as a separately addressable network node. This allows components to assess their operational status and flag any faults that may occur. The twin units function independently to offer redundancy as well as an exceptional number of spare instrument channels. “This arrangement allows us to switch over in the event of a problem occurring when in the water,” Mark Collins. “If one should fail, we can still carry out a lot of work or at least recover the vehicle safely. “Because the multiplexers are located in the junction boxes, they are immersed in oil, not in air. The packaging is much smaller and all the input and output connections to the instruments can go straight into ports in the face plates, rather than from the main pod through harnesses to the junction box. The lack of complexity results in increased reliability. In a strategic departure from the Quasar Compact, the designers have opted for a welded aluminium frame. This makes the frame deceptively light, however, the I-beam gives it rigidity and enough integral strength to hang third party instruments and tools packages on the frame. “There are four tooling points at the bottom as well as on the back,” said Collins “It is therefore possible to hang half a ton at half a metre off the back of the ROV. The lack of cross-bracing and the use of miniature components keep the areas at the front and sides of the ROV clear for maintenance access.”
Supporter 12 Sold to DOF Kystdesign has signed a contract with DOF for delivery of a Supporter work-class ROV. The Supporter will be installed on Scandi Vega, a new inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) vessel and shall perform subsea inspection and construction work.
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.....
The ROV is enclosed in a lightweight, high-strength aluminium alloy frame with stainless-steel fasteners, which gives the Supporter a weight (in air) of 2450kg. It has a 3000kg throughframe lift capacity, although the main frame certified by Det Norske Veritas, to a single weight lift of 6000kg. The buoyancy is provided by a single syntactic foam block, with extra blocks – or indeed ballast – available depending on the application. For inspection duties, there are eight cameras illuminated by ten 250W dimmable lights. The system is capable of handling an additional 18 survey sensors simultaneously. The instrumentation includes an array of devices, including navigation/tracking, north-seeking gyro and obstacle avoidance sonar. The internal architecture and the hydraulic components have been completely designed in-house. It has a payload of 220kg and can be fitted with manipulators, tool basket and skid. The underwater tools and manipulators include a five-function grabber and a seven-function Schilling Titan III manipulator. The vehicle includes three 300mm vertical thrusters and four 300mm vectorised horizontal thrusters, which give it a horizontal bollard pull of 520kg and a speed of 3.5kts.
Surrounding the metal frame are resilient quick-release polypropylene crash frames which protect the extremities from impact with subsea structures or the side of the deployment vessel. The Atom has two vertical and four horizontal Curvetech thrusters. The horizontal thrusters are mounted directly on the frame, which means that it is possible to remove the buoyancy with the thrusters remaining on the system. The Atom can provide nearly 500kgf of horizontal thrust – at least 50% more than an equivalent sized electric ROV. This is particularly useful in high current operations, and there is also the option of diverting all the hydraulic power to tooling.
The Supporter ROV
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Vehicles
Fly Out ROV A 3000m Fly-Out ROV has been announced to the market by AC-CESS of Aberdeen, Scotland. Working in conjunction with their engineering partners ALL OCEANS, the AC-ROV 3000 offers visual inspection support for host vehicle operations in busy, congested and high risk operating environments. The support this provides can be categorised into two vital roles: As a BUDDY the AC-ROV 3000 can keep a watching eye on the host vehicle. Duties include checking the tether, giving added perspective on any tool deployments and generally providing an overview of operations. This adds up to reducing risk, limiting
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host vehicle movement and increased productivity. As a SCOUT it can be advanced into areas where the host vehicle can not go, or the risks for it are too great, IE: pipe work, wreck inspection, thermal vents etc. Insurance cover for high risk operations can be difficult to obtain or prohibitively expensive. This is where a less expensive asset comes into its own, which was one of the design drivers for the AC-ROV 3000. The vehicle is small, simple and robust thereby minimising the value and maximising the durability of the part exposed to the greatest risk. Inline with the AC-CESS ethos of mobility and robustness, the AC-ROV 3000 retains the clean, snag free shape
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and orbital mobility of the original ACROV underwater inspection system. The vehicle is garaged on the host ROV and is deployed and recovered by an electric Tether Management System (TMS), and another All Oceans specialisation. AC-CESS business development manager, Mr Callum Magee proudly explained that the AC-ROV 3000 fly-out is a further milestone in ACCESS’s history: “The AC-ROV 3000 is testament to the original AC-ROV design and is a clear statement of intent. It further demonstrates the forward thinking and industry commitment of both AC-CESS and ALL OCEANS which keeps us where we want to be – at the front”.
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Definitive ROV Navigation For over 30 years Kongsberg Maritime has been leading the way in manufacturing underwater cameras, lamps and imaging sonars for today’s demanding ROV, plough and trencher navigation, surveillance and inspection tasks.
• Dependable colour zoom inspection cameras • Affordable HD cameras with HD-SDI output • Extremely low light BIT navigation cameras • Powerful High-Intensity Discharge and LED lamps • Robust digital Pan & Tilt and Rotator units • Versatile high-resolution scanning sonars Innovative design and technology, unrivalled build quality and exceptional image quality ensure Kongsberg’s products offer the best price-performance and reliability.
To discover more, please contact Kongsberg Maritime Ltd tel: +44 (0)1224 226500 email: km.camsales.uk@kongsberg.com http://www.km.kongsberg.com/cameras UT3 1Q 2010
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Diving
DIVING DSV Noordhoek Constructor Noordhoek has officially taken delivery of the DPII DSV Noordhoek Constructor in from the Niigata Yard in Japan. This new, state-of-the-art vessel is specifically designed for efficient diving operations in the harsh North Sea environment. It has an overall length of 76m with an 18m beam and is equipped with a 12-man single bell saturation diving system with the latest, technology complete with a self propelled hyperbaric lifeboat. For station-keeping, the vessel has Class 2 dynamic positioning system in compliance with the most demanding maritime and environmental regulations worldwide. The vessel is designed primarily for saturation,air and transfer under pressure (TUP) diving operations at depths of up to 200m. However, with a clear deck space of 685m2, the 100t main crane and a dual light work and observation class ROV spread, the new build will clearly be a multirole vessel suitable for worldwide deployment. The vessel has accommodation for 70 people.
Diving Bell Insulation Improves Thermal Performance And Protection
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Subsea saturation diving, at depths down to 300m (1000ft) below the surface, tests equipment and men to the limit. To protect divers from the cold in the diving bell, manufacturers Unique LLC turned to Trelleborg Offshore for an innovative syntactic foam insulation solution.
the uplift of the bell for accurate system buoyancy control.
“The engineered Trelleborg syntactic foam insulation, and the company’s 3D modelling design capabilities, provided us with high accuracy thermal and buoyancy properties,” said Shane Julias, design engineer at Unique System LLC.
“In contrast, the Trelleborg polyurethane-based foam has a high impact resistance and is totally impervious to water ingress under pressure. It is designed to eliminate any requirement for maintenance, so that life cycle costs are minimised.”
“It enabled us to predict the thermal insulation thickness required, and
The Unique System diving bell is designed as a submersible decompression chamber for a
“The performance of previous insulation systems used was more difficult to predict. It was also susceptible to damage and water ingress, which could affect the thermal and buoyancy properties.
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three man saturation diving team. It transports them from a ship’s live-in hyperbaric chamber down to working depths with typical sea temperatures of between 45˚F and 65˚F (9˚C and 20˚C). Typical subsea tasks include pipeline repair, maintenance and inspection, cable maintenance, platform installation and removal. The heliox (helium/ oxygen) breathing mixture, for the diving bell atmosphere is supplied via an umbilical from the support ship. Heliox has a higher thermal conductivity than air, so good thermal insulation is essential for the divers’ comfort. As dive times in the bell are often 10 to 12 hours, and the divers remain under saturation conditions for
Air diving station
Mounted Diver Video and Comms System The National Hyperbaric Centre of Aberdeen has recently fitted out its air diving station with a comprehensive dive station from subsea electronic manufacturers C-Tecnics. The unit is based on three modules: a three-diver C-Phone comms unit, a dual camera and lamp supply control unit, a HDD recorder with large memory. This system ensures that video and communications for both the divers and supervisor are clearly recorded and can easily be presented to client or engineers. The rack houses C-Tecnics 19in product range. A large format video screen also allows a split screen set-up so viewing from two cameras can be seen simultaneously such as from the standby diver, crane operator or ROV. C-Tecnics originally developed the rack system as a oneoff item for a leading manufacturer of containerised air diving control systems in Norway. Due to the success and positive feedback about the rack system, C-Tecnics has incorporated the rack into its product line and several units have now been built and installed around the world. Commenting on the system, a spokesman for the National Hyperbaric Centre said: “Recording the dive, with video and audio, straight to disc is good for the trainees to review. “Since it has been installed it has saved us hours of set up time with these diver training sessions by offering really simple comms and camera operations. We would recommend it for any dive company who wants a high quality accurate recording.”
Communications: The communications unit is based on a three-diver C-Phone, which permits two working divers and a standby diver to be operational and recorded. It allows the user to switch communication from diver to diver, or to hear all divers at once. The unit incorporates its own uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for back-up in the event of mains power failure. Camera The dual camera and lamp supply, capable of supplying two cameras and two lamps, is also part of C-Tecnics product line. There is also additional space within the rack system for another power supply to be fitted, allowing four cameras and four lamps to be powered simultaneously. The complete package includes the newly developed CT3008 inspection camera and CT4003 underwater LED light. Memory The unit comes complete with a 1TB hard disk drive for recording both the diver’s video and comms and also includes video editing software. The HDD unit also has room for additional hard drives and has several USB interfaces for transferring video and comms files. Included in the rack is the 22in monitor which is capable of split screen viewing allowing you to watch and record both cameras at once.
Insulated diving bell
up to 30 days, their well being is critical to mission success. “Trelleborg used its Trident insulation system, which is based on BASF’s ZEROHg glass syntactic polyurethane foam technology, in a one pour, one lift foam application. The application technique ensured no insulation interface joints for complete integrity,” said James Vultaggio, product group manager, Trelleborg Offshore, Houston. “This eliminates water ingress into the foam which could affect the thermal properties.” The diving bell shell is constructed of ABS approved carbon steel, welded in carefully designed sections; the total weight of foam poured around the shell was 1300lbs (600kg). This is the first use of the Trident Insulation system in a custom coating operation and the first diving bell insulated with glass syntactic polyurethane foam. It represents a significant advance in diver safety and reduced operating costs.
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Autosub Long The driving vision for the programme has been to provide marine scientists with the tools to probe the most challenging environments. Since 2001, Autosubs have brought back unique information from under floating ice, first from under sea ice in the Antarctic and Arctic, and then later from under floating glacial ice in the Antarctic. “In doing so, we have arrived at the beginning of a new era for glaciologists and polar oceanographers,” said Prof. Gwyn Griffiths, head of the Underwater Systems Laboratory, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. “Today, we are faced with the challenge of delivering longer missions under ice, and doing so with a very high degree of certainty of completion. “We have also achieved another part of the driving Autosub vision: that of deep-diving. With a depth specification of 6000m, the latest
member of the Autosub family of vehicles, the Autosub6000, is now a proven Deep Ocean Geological and Geophysical-Instrumented Explorer (DOGGIE). With three engineering trials completed, and information gathered using its swath bathymetry and other sensors already published, Autosub6000 will underpin science cruise to the Cayman Rise in March 2010.” However, not until now, has technology made it possible to tackle the Dolphin concept. This is an acronym for the Deep Ocean Long Path Hydrographic INstrument, where the challenge has been to combine the deep-diving capability of Autosub 6000, with a 6000km, in one vehicle range. Called the Autosub–Long Range, this target range exceeds that of the longest endurance propelled underwater vehicles of today – buoyancy-engined undersea gliders
Operations “We have looked at a number of potential of science missions that could be achieved with the Autosub– Long Range,” said Prof. Griffiths. “These illustrate the key attributes of the new vehicle, which will undergo its first engineering sea trials in January 2011 and be available for science missions from April 2012.”
Map of Drake Passage
Example Mission: Crossing Drake Passage Monitoring the variability in the Antarctic circumpolar current is most readily achieved at choke points, such as the Drake Passage. Repeat hydrographic surveys from research ships are primarily made during the austral summer; measurements during winter are few. Lagrangian profiling floats are wafted through, with current jets of 1m/s-1 not unusual. For the same reason, Continued Overleaf
Range predictions based on outline design (km) vs. speed (ms-1) with hotel powers of 1W (blue trace), 2.5W (red trace) and 5W (magenta). At moderate speeds the range is strongly sensitive to the AUV speed, and at lower speeds it has a high sensitivity to the hotel power used. Ranges in excess of 6000 km are possible with tight control over sensor power.
Under-ice missions
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8000 7000 6000
Range (km)
In the 20 years since the first studies under the Natural Environment Research Council’s Autosub programme were completed, vehicles built by the technical team have contributed to two major marine science programmes as well as several standalone research projects. Over 50 science and engineering papers have been published.
5000 4000 3000 2000 1000
0.2
Range Autosub Design After an exhaustive review of technical options and cost, it was decided that the main pressure vessel for Autosub–Long Range would comprise a forged aluminium sphere.
There are limitations necessary in achieving this 6000m diving depth and 6000km range performance envelope. The main such limitation is maintaining low average energy consumption.
the full range of the vehicle is to be achieved.
Modern electronics allow mechanical and electrical systems to deliver the engineering and data acquisition performance required, at minimal power consumption.
While instruments that consume high power are not ruled out, for example those using active acoustics, the average energy used must be sufficiently low if
In situ platforms such as profiling Lagrangian floats with endurance of several years have shown what is possible with specially designed sensors.
Specifications Components Cost
£75000
Technical features
Mass
500 kg
Propulsion Motor:
Magnetically coupled d.c. electric motor with gearbox housed at 1 bar pressure. Operating from 2 W to 50 W output with overall ~ 50% efficiency over full power range.
Main Pressure
2 of 711 mm diameter forged aluminium sphere with equatorial ring for connector ports. Mass to displacement ratio of 730 kg m-3 with an internal volume of 0.142 m3.
Energy and Power Source
40 kg of primary lithium thionyl chloride cells, delivering 68 M Joule at the operating power. Cost of £7000 per pack. Additional buoyancy: High performance syntactic foam with a density of 570 kg m-3 as on the Isis ROV.
Control system hardware:
Magnetically coupled d.c. motor driven stern plane and rudder. Vehicle is highly directionally stable, hence motors can have low duty cycle, saving energy.
Control system software
Data handling and communications modules hosted on Marvel PXA270 running at 104 MHz, with Windows CE operating system. Low-level control system using PIC controllers and I2C bus.
Main control, navigation
Fitted sensors: Seabird SBE 52 CTD. RDI Teledyne 300 kHz ADCP.
Navigation:
GPS on surface. Dead Reckoning using TCM5 flux gate compass, RDI Teledyne 300 kHz ADCP. Seabird Digiquartz used for depth sensing. ADCP beams used for constant altitude mode operation and collision avoidance.
Communications:
Two way Iridium satellite communications for science data download, mission and configuration upload.
Relocation backup
ARGOS beacon (in addition to Iridium system).
Maximum Depth 6000 m Maximum Range 6000 km Speed range
0.3 to 1.4ms-1
Typical power:
0.6 W
Sensor energy use
0.4 W
Onboard energy: 68 MJ Max. payload volume 30 litres Max. payload weight 10 kg in water Drag coefficient (vol2/3) 0.040 Propulsive efficiency 38%
0.4
Long endurance missions also mean that the instruments should show minimal changes to their calibration.
0.6
AUV Speed
0.8
1.0
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Autosub Long Range crossing Drake Passage would be challenging for undersea gliders, especially if the need was to keep to a set course, for example to travel beneath a satellite altimeter track.
masses between the North Atlantic ocean and the Arctic ocean through the Nordic Seas between Greenland and NW Europe need to be better understood.”
With a depth rating well in excess of the 4500m maximum depth in Drake Passage, an endurance that would enable a 2500km round-trip mission from the Falkland Islands to Elephant Island, and the ability to speed up to 1.5m s-1 to reduce the effect of crosstrack currents, the Autosub-Long Range is well suited to this task.
“Ice thickness is more challenging to estimate from satellite measurements than ice extent, and there remains a need for extensive in situ measurements, which can be made from autonomous underwater vehicles using upward-looking sonar.
In this application the primary sensors would be a conductivity temperature and depth (CTD), such as the Seabird SBE41CP. Results from six recovered profiling floats showed very low drift for this class of instrument (less than -0.003 in salinity and -0.002 °C) over 2–6 years. In addition, an acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) would provide AUV-referenced velocity, which, with absolute measurements when on the surface and near the seabed could be processed as a lowered ADCP to obtain throughwater column absolute velocity profiles. Low power consumption optical sensors, such as a fluorometer for chlorophyll, an optode for dissolved oxygen, radiometers and backscatter sensors could also be carried.
Example Mission: Crossing the Arctic Ocean “The Arctic ocean is changing, reduced summer sea ice extent being most visible. Changes beneath the surface are less obvious, but no less important,” said Prof. Griffiths. “Ocean acidification will first impact high latitudes, as the waters become understaurated with respect to calcite and aragonite. This will have consequences for marine calcifiers including cold-water coral reefs. Variability in the exchanges of water
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“Access to the Arctic ocean today involves complex logistics and ice-strengthened vessels. The next decade may see extensive use of autonomous vehicles in the Arctic, as sub-ice navigation infrastructure across the basin becomes available. The Autosub–Long Range could contribute to a major research effort by enabling measurements under ice across the entire basin. The 3500km from Svalbard to Barrow, Alaska is well within the planned endurance of the vehicle.” With an average of 10W of power available for this mission, the vehicle’s sonars would be able to make ice thickness and water depth observations every 10m along its track, as well as a host of water column measurements.
Example Mission: Mid-Oceanic Ridges The Mothra hydrothermal field, Endeavour segment on Juan de Fuca Ridge 3, has a number of vent site locations within the axial valley, at a depth of about 2270m. Temperature anomalies in the water column were first found in 1986 and subsequent investigations led to the discovery of the vent fields a decade later. An Inter Ridge Working Group on long-range exploration has been set up to establish how autonomous underwater vehicles might lead to systematic exploration for hydrothermal sites. The Autosub–Long Range is one of the vehicles being considered by the Working Group for this task.
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Example Mission: Spatial Variability The last decade has seen a reinforcement of the need for multidisciplinary measurements from moored deepwater reference stations. The international OceanSITES programme coordinates more than 60 time-series stations in a global network. Since 2002 NOCS has supported a deepwater mooring on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain – PAP. It examines complex oceanic processes from the surface to the seafloor by making measurements on the biological, chemical and physical conditions. Some data are transmitted in near real-time via satellite, allowing scientists to observe and hence understand shortterm variability in the physical processes, ecosystem dynamics and nutrient cycling. Other data is recorded on instruments and retrieved on regular refurbishment cruises. Observatories such as PAP provide invaluable time series at one location. Interpretation of some of the data from such a single location can be helped by knowledge of the ocean environment surrounding the mooring. Such information could be gathered by sensors on a Autosub– Long Range. The mission could start from Bantry, Ireland, 600km to the northeast of PAP, avoiding the need for a supporting research ship. The vehicle would take 14 days to travel to PAP, with enough energy for over 100 days on site, before travelling back to ‘refuel’. “Not constrained to follow a glider’s saw-tooth depth profile, the Autosub–Long Range could perform area surveys at fixed depths or on isopycnal surfaces, as science requirements may specify, with a suite of physical and biogeochemical sensors,” said Prof. Griffiths. “The vehicle would be able to make measurements from the sea surface to the seabed at 4800m.”
Offshore
Subsea Projects
Renewables Wind Turbine Installation Vessel
Installation vehicle
GustoMSC is to build a wind turbine installation jack-up vessel for an undisclosed client. It will be the largest of its kind serving the wind turbine Installation market. The NG-9000CHPE is intended for use in water depths of up to 45m in a North Sea environment. The vessel will be able to undertake high speed fully loaded voyages to the installation site. She is equipped with a DP-2 dynamic positioning system for positioning at site.
An accommodation deckhouse suitable for 90 persons is located on the forward end of the vessel. A helicopter landing deck suitable for a Sikorsky S92/ S61N or Super Puma AS 332L2 is provided on top of the accommodation deckhouse. Central to its operation is a 800t heavy duty offshore crane developed by GustoMSC. The GLC-800ED crane combines a high capacity & high outreach with a short minimum radius, is located on top of the portside aft jack-house and revolves 360deg unrestricted around the leg. The four legs with the continuous speed GustoMSC jacking system
and the diagonal pre-loading allow for easy and fast installation. Propulsion for transit is provided by three propulsion azimuth thrusters of 3500kW, together with another three tunnel thrusters of 1750 kW. These provide thrust for station keeping with a DP-2 dynamic positioning system. Transit speed approximately 12 kts. The main deck is locally reinforced for the transportation of wind turbine parts or other heavy components. In addition the vessel has the ability to work in the offshore oil and gas sector. The vessel features a 6,500 ton variable load capacity. The vessel is equipped with the GustoMSC 9000C continuous hydraulic positive engagement jacking system. It has a maximum jacking capacity of 5300t ft per leg and a maximum holding capacity of 9000t ft per leg. The delivery is scheduled for early 2012. This project is a continuation of a cooperation between DDW-SEA and GustoMSC. Since 2005, it has designed and built four SEA-2000 construction jack-ups, four CJ46-X100D drilling jack-ups, two service jack construction / decommissioning jack-ups and one SEA-2750 multi-purpose jack-up.
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Principal dimensions Hull length 130.8m Hull width 39m Hull depth 9m Hull draft 5.6m Leg length max 81.50m
Main hoist 800t @ 24 m Minimum outreach 18 m Whip hoist (manriding) 50t @ 90 m Minimum outreach 21 m Power generation 4 diesel generator sets of 4320kW 1 emergency diesel generator set of 600 kW
Operating condition Significant wave height 1.8 m Wave peak period 4.0 – 10.0 Wind velocity 14m/s Current velocity 2kt Elevated survival condition Significant wave height 10.8m Wave peak period 13.5s Wind velocity 41m/s Current velocity 2.5 kn Classification DNV 1A1 Self-elevating Wind Turbine Installation Unit CLEAN DESIGN, CRANE, DYNPOS-AUTR, E0, HELDK, NAUT-OSV(A), OPP-F
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Subsea News
Subsea
NEWS DOF in Angola Aberdeen-based specialist subsea service company DOF Subsea has been awarded a contract worth around $8 million by Total Angola to provide geotechnical survey services in the CLOV development, offshore Angola. To undertake the work, DOF subsea will be using its vessel the Geograph and a third party geotechnical spread. Garry Millard, managing director of DOF Subsea UK said: “We’re delighted to be delivering our services from one of our own vessels, the Geograph. The award of this contract is in line with our strategy to develop our capabilities and services in the Africa region.”
Dumping Rubble DEME Group ordered the dynamically positioned fall-pipe rock dumper Flintstone from Sembawang shipyard in Singapore in 2008. The rock dumper will be commissioned in early 2011 and operated by Breda-based offshore specialist company Tideway. The vessel has a load weight of 19 000t and is specially designed for creating high precision structures on the sea bed, and other tasks, using rock and gravel in bulk, etc. Key to the operation is the advanced dual HiPAP 500, hydroacoustic aided inertial navigation (HAIN), subsea and dynamic positioning (DP) system developed by Kongsberg, and the comparatively high DP capability of
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the all electric propulsion based on six thrusters. This allows the Flintstone to track (a pipeline) with great accuracy and a fast update rate at all times, which supports the quality of the subsea structures being built. Use of two HiPAP 500 transducers increases the electrical and acoustic redundancy, and also increases the accuracy, as it opens for redundant measurement with position estimation based on two independent measurements and a quality control. The dual system uses both transducers to measure the position of one single target (transponder) by separately controlling the beam forming and phase measurement for
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each system in parallel. HAIN Subsea combines the acoustic measurements from the dual HiPAP 500 and the readings from the sensors onboard the ROV in an optimum way. The navigation equations update the ROV position, velocity, heading and attitude almost continuously based on the readings from the inertial measurement unit. The advanced Kalman filter corrects these values when new acoustic positions and readings from the other ROV sensors are available. This results in improved position accuracy and update rate, compared to the acoustic measurements.
Acteon has formed a new business unit, to be known as Pulse Structural Monitoring, specifically to provide structural monitoring equipment, systems and services to the offshore industry. The business was previously embedded within the portfolio of group company 2H Offshore, but was spun out as a stand-alone enterprise to create greater focus and intensity within the organisation, expand the customer base and grow the business.
“The technology in this area has developed considerably in recent years,” says Pei An, the head of Pulse Structural Monitoring. “What was once viewed as an research and development exercise has evolved into an established commercial business. We need to be attuned to customers’ requirements in a more mature and increasingly competitive market. These needs centre on sound, independent advice and guidance, highly reliable and costeffective monitoring systems and high standards of service.”
Subsea News
Pulse Monitoring
ScanCutter Scanmudring has developed an umbilical/wire cutter for offshore use. Called the ScanCutter, it is remotely operated from a pneumatic control panel, preventing the need for personnel to stay close to the cutting area. Default cable length for the remote control panel is 8m, but can be extended if required.
cut steel armoured umbilicals and wires up to 54mm and ultimate tensile strength of 1770N/mm2.
The ScanCutter can be powered by either air pressure (8 bar) or dedicated nitrogen bottle (5kg) included in the spread. The ScanCutter spread is mobilised in a single aluminum box, for easy handling and transport. The simple and reliable system can
The ScanCutter
UWC Equipment Tritech has provided The Underwater Centre, Fort William, with two of its high technology products to assist in subsea training.
Above: The Flintstone Right: Dual HiPAP 500 transducers increase the electrical and acoustic redundancy
During a recent visit to the deepwater training site, Tritech Product Line Managers Ben Grant and Andrew Seaton, presented The Underwater Centre with a Super SeaPrince DST sonar – Tritech’s survey, observation and light class ROV sonar and a Seanet Surface Control Unit (SCU) Processor. The Super SeaPrince sonar will be fitted to one of the Centre’s Seaeye Falcon ROV Class II vehicles. Tritech’s sonar and SCU will be fully utilised in the subsea training and development of ROV pilot technicians as they develop their flying skills, in the open-water conditions at the Centre’s purpose-built facilities.
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Tritech supports the expert training provided at The Centre and is encouraged that students will have access to modern equipment known and accepted as an industry standard throughout the world. As a commercial diver and ROV pilot technician training facility, The Underwater Centre fully supports industry testing and subsea trials. Working with The Centre, Tritech recently trialled the very latest in its subsea technologies, including the newest edition to the SeaKing sonar range, due for launch mid-2010. Paul Bury, Head of ROV Operations and Training, The Underwater Centre, said: “This donation from Tritech is a fantastic addition and will allow us to continue to train the very best ROV pilots and technicians.”
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Subsea News
Subsea
NEWS
Deep water oil export pumps Hughes Pumps has recently completed a contract to supply eight pumping systems for use on Subsea 7 and Technip pipe laying support vessels (PLSV) working on a $200million engineering, procurement, installation, and commissioning (EPIC) contract awarded by Petrobras, to lay flexible flow lines to the seabed for deep water oil export in the Campos Basin, offshore Rio de Janeiro.
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The Hughes pumping systems being used on the PLSVs include flexible lines hydrostatic test and chemical injection systems (HTCIS) for the pressure testing of flexible flow lines using seawater, as well as flushing and hydrostatic test units (FHTU) for flushing and hydrostatic testing of umbilicals with an hydraulic fluid used for production control in the offshore oil and gas industry The Hughes HTCIS integrated units
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filling system is rated to 50m続/hr at 10 bar, a mid pressure system rated to 10m続/hr at 310 bar and a high pressure system rated to 0.4m続/hr at 517 bar. In addition there is a chemical injection system (CIS) to meter oxygen remover and biologic inhibitor into the process line. The output of all three pumping systems is fully adjustable and the CIS unit automatically maintains the correct level of chemical dosing irrespective of pump outputs.
InterMoor has completed its sixth job in the Gulf of Mexico using its recently enhanced Scimitar Abrasive Cutting Tool. InterMoor’s Scimitar Abrasive Cutting Tool is the only tool of its kind where the abrasive is introduced at the cutting head versus a slurry mix (abrasive mixed at the high pressure pump). It has had a 100% success rate.
Subsea News
Abrasive Cutting
The tool uses ultra high pressure water to move abrasive at transonic speeds to cut virtually any type of material. It was adapted from a pneumatic tool to a hydraulic tool that centralizes inside of the pile or caisson. The Scimitar Abrasive Cutting Tool sizes cover a range of casing outside diameters 7–16 in., 16–48 in. and 52–72 in. It is available in three sizes with lengths of 12, 15 and 20ft and weights of 500, 1000 and 1400 lbs.
Scimitar Abrasive Cutting Tool
Uniquely Sonardyne Above: The Lochnagar which was used to deploy the system. Inset - the installation being carried out
The system also included flow rate and discharge pressure readings from each pump. Prior to installation, new umbilicals were flushed using two HPS650 pumps, each rated to 50 lpm at 400 bar. A 3.2 lpm at 690 bar pump was then used to hydrostatically test the umbilicals. Fluid cleanliness had to meet NAS 1638 class 6 or better necessitating the need for a separate filling and filtering system to permanently filter the fluid. Other applications for Hughes Pumps in the offshore oil and gas industry include; subsea cleaning & cutting, surface preparation of oil & gas platforms, ships decks and ballast tanks using ultra high pressure (UHP) water at up to 2750 bar, methanol injection and pumping crude oil.
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Aberdeen rental company, Unique System has added Sonardyne’s Ranger-Pro Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) acoustic positioning system to its inventory. The company, which has only recently opened its Aberdeen facility, has also bought a number of Wideband Sub-Mini transponders, acoustic release transponders and associated deck command units. The portable Ranger-Pro package bought by Unique System is intended for the most advanced survey applications and can be temporarily installed on vessels of opportunity. It incorporates Sonardyne’s unique ‘ping stacking’ technology which provides one second position update rates independent of water depth, tracking of up to 10 targets and full ocean depth operating range. The system is compatible with a wide range of industry transponders
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Subsea News
Subsea
NEWS Subsea Inspection Tracerco has developed its novel inspection techniques to provide a rapid, cost effective and reliable method to assist operators and integrity management companies with statutory and routine vessel condition assessment in a subsea environment. The Tracerco Diagnostics Scanning techniques have been widely used for over 50 years in the process industry to define tank inventories and to locate gas/liquid interfaces, liquid/liquid interfaces and solid accumulations. The inspection technologies are now available for subsea application, to provide accurate and fully reliable subsea measurements for vapour/ liquid interfaces contained within mid water arches, buoyancy tanks, mooring points and other such subsea equipment. Vessel integrity can now be determined real time via online measurements, which effectively make the vessel transparent thereby, providing “insight onsite�. The technique is non-intrusive and is easily deployable by diver operated or remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The detector feeds real time inspection data to the Tracerco Diagnostics engineer on the deck, where expert interpretation provides the client with instant feedback. The detector is moved up and down the outside vessel emitting its signal through the vessel wall and into the stored medium. The resultant response signal provides an accurate profile of the content of the tank/ vessel. The highly sensitive and stable
Profile of a buoy’s contents
system produces a significant change in signal as it moves from the oil to water. A more prominent response is obtained for a vapour/liquid interface. This situation can occur when the integrity of the internal compartments is breached following any unplanned
SAS pipeline Inspection C & C Technologies completed its second successful contract for a major oil company using synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) technology to assess the integrity of pipeline structures in the Gulf of Mexico.
photographic-quality, real-time acoustic imagery across the entire transmission range precluding the typical necessity to run many perpendicular survey lines.
Both SAS projects were accomplished with the Applied Signal Technology (AST) developed PROSAS Surveyor SAS sonar.
This enabled C & C to complete a faster, more cost-effective pipeline inspection survey and reduced the amount of time required for geologists to interpret the pipeline images.
In the summer of 2009, C & C employed the PROSAS to evaluate potential unsupported sections of pipelines on the seafloor resulting from marine traffic, tidal scour, and storm impact and to determine whether structural repairs were required.
The level of detail produced by PROSAS Surveyor enabled the customer to evaluate critical spans in the pipeline structure and to pinpoint the exact location for necessary structural repairs, thereby mitigating the need for significant dive operation costs.
Recently mobilised aboard the 136ft utility support vessel Andrew Charles, the PROSAS Surveyor performed a two-day 24/7 mission acquiring sonar data with one square inch resolution at 150m range per side.
The key differentiator of SAS technology in this latest survey was its ability to image so accurately on the initial parallel pass that running perpendicular passes on the pipelines, the normal survey approach using traditional side scan systems, added no benefit to the overall picture.
The system produced high definition,
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intervention or weld failure. The sensitivity is reliant on geometry of the detector and thickness of the vessel wall. Typically, the scan can accurately determine a level through up to 50mm of steel.
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Low voltage LED Light Birns has introduced its all new Aquila-LED lighting system. Built to withstand the rigors of deep sea applications – from illuminating ROVs and underwater photography to helmet-mounted use in commercial diving – the versatile new Aquila-LED provides incredible illumination in a compact, lightweight silhouette that can be seamlessly customised to fit a wide range of uses. Part of the new ‘L’ series, this powerful LED light delivers high performance under pressure with a small yet powerful design.
It weighs in at 209g (7.4oz) in air, or 64g (2.3oz) in water and features a 60mm diameter housing with a brilliant, 60deg beam − effectively piercing the depths with a potent 4500K white light. Its wire-free construction combines advanced design characteristics with a streamlined 97mm (3.8in) profile that makes it simple to relamp – just 30 seconds, with no tools needed. The design includes new features that provide increased heat dissipation, like four conduit channels that enhance water flow across the lens and specially engineered cooling fins
to help sink heat into the water. The Aquila’s new ergonomicallydesigned mounting diameter is compact, with a coarse diamond knurled surface for easy hand gripping or positioning on a mounting bracket. It’s made of lightweight 6061 hard black anodized aluminium, has a depth rating of 200m.
ARMS Bowtech has developed a monitoring system which they say could result in significant cost savings. Called the anchor retrieval monitoring system (ARMS) system, it monitors each individual mooring chain and anchor on semi submersible drilling rigs, eliminating up to 16 hours of operational time per rig move.
of semi-submersible rigs around the world. The image below is from a recent installation in Namibia on the GSF Rig 140.
Designed around our state-of-the-art colour CCD 36:1 zoom camera and utilising the latest technology in LED lighting, the ARMS system removes the need to ballast and de-ballast the rig to ensure the anchors are stowed safely. Controlled remotely from either the winch house or remote bridge, the ARMS system provides safety and security of staff and assets along with huge cost savings every time the rig is moved. This system is already achieving success on a number
ARMS system improves rig mooring
Data Buoys In May 2008 AADI (Aanderaa Data Instruments) entered an agreement with the Norwegian Clean Sea Association for Operating Companies (NOFO), to develop a small drifting buoy that has similar drift characteristics as an oil slick on the sea surface. Information from the drifting buoys are displayed on the electronic chart system onboard any vessel that has up-to-date ECDIS software according to IMO standards.
During 2009 the 30cm diameter buoy, with was tested in a number of different oil spill exercises as well as in man overboard exercises and other types of exercise. According to the design specifications the vessels should be able to pick up the signals from the buoy at a distance of at least three nautical miles, the tests have shown that good signals were picked up at a distance of 7 nautical miles with wave heights of 10m and 12 nautical miles on a calm sea.
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Experimental tests confirmed that the buoy are able to withstand a drop from the specified altitude of 50m above sea level. This property makes it possible to drop from a fixed installation or from a helicopter. During an oil spill exercise at the Frigg field in the North Sea in early June 2009 the drifting buoys were used to track remnant oil slicks that were escaping from the main spill.
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Company News
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Company
News
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Company News
Gusto Contracts Dutch design and engineering company GustoMSC completed a number of projects in 2009. These included:
offshore wind turbines one week after delivery delivered by Lemants to GEOSEA
l The GustoMSC SEA2000 series construction jack-ups JB-114 & JB-115 were delivered by Drydocks World – South East Asia.
l The DSS21 class Maersk Discoverer DP deepwater drilling semi-submersible is the first of the series of three. It is presently operating in the Gulf of Mexico for a four years contract with Statoil Naga 2 and Perro Negro 6
l The a GustoMSC NG2500-X unit Seajacks Leviathan – sister vessel of the Seajacks Kraken was delivered by Lamprell Energy to Seajacks and is currently under contract for Fluor at the Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm. l The Maersk Reacher is the fourth of the GustoMSC CJ50-X100 vessels delivered by Keppel FELS to Maersk Drilling. With its modern drilling equipment centred around the GustoMSC X-Y cantilever, this rig can operate in a water depth of 350ft. The first rig, Maersk Resilient, commenced operations in February 2008 for Dubai Petroleum Establishment. l The GustoMSC SEA2000 unit Goliath was on its first job to install
l The Naga 2 and Perro Negro 6 are GustoMSC CJ46-X100-D jack-up drilling units for 350 ft water depth. Both units were delivered by Drydocks World – South East Asia to their respective owners UMW Singapore Drilling and Saipem, . These units are part of a series of four at this yard. l The Gold Star is a DSS38 unit, developed by GustoMSC and Keppel DTG, delivered by Keppel FELS to the Brazilian operator Queiroz Galvão Óleo e Gás. The Gold Star and its sister unit Alpha Star will support Petrobras’ exploration and production activities offshore Brazil.
Nautronix software gets a TickIT of approval Aberdeen based, Nautronix have been certified with the international software standard TickIT in a move to highlight high standards within the organisation. The company, which specialises in acoustic signalling technology solutions for communication and positioning in the subsea environment, were audited against the TickIT standard which puts best practices into software development, implementation and control processes within an organisation.
The GustoMSC CJ46-X100-D jack-up drilling units Naga 2 and Perro Negro 6 for work in 350 ft water depth
Nautronix already hold ISO9001:2008. They say that the move was important to highlight to their customers and the industry that their software development is of the highest class. Managing Director, Mark Patterson said “Software is an important and
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core discipline within Nautronix, this has been demonstrated internally over the last few years with the significant growth in our software department. “We are currently carrying out important development work with NASNet and MASMUX so it’s important we ensure that we are working to the highest possible standards. “While we have always been confident of our ability to do this the TickIT accreditation allows us to demonstrate to others that we are working to a consistently high level. “Gaining this standard does not come lightly and I’m impressed with the work the team has carried out over the last year to achieve this.”
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Cables and Umbilicals
Cables and Umbilicals Wind farm Cables Cable contracts have recently been placed by the consortium of DONG Energy, E.ON and Masdar, which is currently building the world’s largest offshore wind farm in the Thames Estuary. The London Array wind farm is being installed on a 233 km2 site located around 20km off the UK coast. It will be connected by subsea export cables to an onshore substation at Cleve Hill, on the North Kent coast. From the substation, the electricity will be fed into the existing 400kV transmission network Construction is taking place in two phases. The first phase of 630MW, consisting of 175 turbines and two offshore substations will be installed in water depths of up to 23m some 20km (12 miles) from the Kent and Essex coasts in the outer Thames Estuary. This expected to be completed and generating in 2012. The future second phase will add capacity to bring the total to 1000MW and will supply enough power for around 750 000 UK homes.
Nexans
Nexans has won a contract worth approximately €100 million to design, manufacture and supply the high voltage (HV) subsea power export cables that will connect the London Array wind farm to the UK grid. The power export cable contract comprises the design, manufacture and supply of four 150 kV XLPE submarine power cables to be laid in parallel, each 53 to 54km in length, with three copper core conductors with a cross-section of 630 mm2 for the main length and 800mm² at each cable end. Nexans will deliver two of the cables in 2011 and two in 2012, all of them being delivered in single continuous lengths from Nexans’
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factory in Halden. The cables will also incorporate fibre-optic elements manufactured at the Nexans factory in Rognan, Norway. In addition, the contract also includes the cable accessories such as repair joints and terminations. “This new contract is the result of several years of Nexans’ involvement in the offshore wind sector in general and in the UK in particular. We are happy to demonstrate once again with this major contract Nexans’ ability to provide key cable solutions for a better deployment of wind farm infrastructures”, says Krister Granlie, managing director of Nexans’ Umbilicals and Submarine High Voltage Business Group. High voltage cables for typical offshore projects are usually produced in one single length of about 50km. This requires specific industrial know-how and manufacturing technology.
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They can weigh up to 120kg per metre of cable according to the conductor crosssection. A single cable can weigh up to 7000t. Over the past few years, Nexans has demonstrated its expertise through participation in many offshore wind farm projects worldwide: Barrow, Horns Rev, Lynn and Inner Dowsing, Wolfe Island and others.
JDR
JDR Cable Systems was awarded the contract for the supply of subsea power array cables for the same field. The scope includes the engineering, design and manufacture of over 200km of 33kV array cables complete with proprietary hang-off and termination systems, providing the essential link between individual wind turbine generators, wind turbine generator arrays and the offshore substations. The cables will be produced in 2010 and 2011.
Cable Contract LS Cable has completed the first-in-Korea submarine cable factory in Donghae City, Gangwon Province. It will fabricated a new 250kV submarine cable line connecting Jeju Island and Jindo Island, 105km away. LS Cable received the KRW 330 billion order for the direct current connection project from KEPCO in February 2009. Installation will begin in May 2010 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011.
With this project, LS Cable is planning to establish internal engineering and construction methodologies with which it intends to enter overseas markets including Europe and South East Asia.
Cables and Umbilicals
..... Due to strong technological barriers, the high-voltage submarine cable market has been dominated by a few European companies, so Korea previously had to import the high-tech cables. LS Cable is now planning to develop new products by 2013 including a 500kV submarine cable and an umbilical cable that can transfer even gas and water.
Shore-End Plough Tyco has deployed a new, top-of-the-line shore-end plough in a recent cable landing operation.
Prysman Prysmian has been awarded an €18 million contract by the Danish utility DONG Energy to supply a complete 132kV export cable system for the second phase of the Walney Offshore Wind Farm project in the Irish Sea. This project is expected to be completed by summer 2011.
The plough, which enables continuity of burial from beach to deep water, provides enhanced efficiency and shallow water burial capability without the need for manual diver jet burial. “The new shore-end plough was an essential tool in our recent operation and resulted in a seamless and efficient
cable landing,” said James Herron, managing director at Tyco Telecommunications. This new plough is part of an upgrade programme to equip every vessel with a complete set of tools, cable ploughs and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), to provide multi-mission flexibility fleet-wide. The new plows are capable under suitable conditions of trenching and burying submarine cable to a depth of 3.0m in down to 2000m of water depth.
The second phase of the Walney project consists of the expansion of the existing wind farm structure through the construction of 51 new turbines, which will generate an extra 183MW power. In particular, Prysmian will be involved in the design and supply of a submarine and land cable system, which will connect the offshore wind farm to the mainland power grid. The submarine cables will be manufactured at the Prysmian submarine cables factory based in Arco Felice, Italy, and the land cables at the factory based in Wrexham, Great Britain.
Tyco has deployed a new, top-of-the-line shore-end plough
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Cables and Umbilicals
Cables and Umbilicals Hyperbaric Testing Programme Birns has introduced a new high performance hydrostatic pressure testing system, with a range of vessels rated to 20 000, 10 000, 5000 and 1000 psi. The company has also added a high volume helium testing capability, exceeding stringent ABS requirements for man-rated penetrator testing. The breakthrough new system provides an enhanced, streamlined, efficient means with which to test a wide range of products for both rigorous safety and demanding performance requirements. Birns has provided hydrostatic pressure testing for man-rated electrical penetrators and complex connector solutions for more than 15 years, with the addition of saltwater testing in the last four. However, this new investment in the custom-engineered testing system has exponentially increased Birns’ existing capabilities, and is expected to significantly reduce and help accurately forecast both time and costs. The new hyperbaric device has a unique control panel for diverse, comprehensive testing on up to three circuits and in six chambers simultaneously, allowing several different tests to be run on multiple products. In addition, the new system provides four new versatile 12in test chambers, which can be filled in 30 seconds and drained in 10 seconds.
Wave hub contract The Hydro Group has been awarded a contract worth £500 000 in a deal that will see the global solution provider of optical and electrical subsea products collaborating on the Wave Hub project. Wave Hub is a marine renewable infrastructure project being developed by the South West RDA (Regional Development Agency). It is situated on the seabed in some 50m of sea water approximately 16km off the coast of Cornwall and connected to the National Grid via a subsea cable. Hydro Group has been sub-contracted by JDR Cable Systems to provide a new high voltage connector for the marine renewable project which is being funded by the South West RDA, UK Government and the European Regional Development Fund.
Each one has quarter-turn quick-lock lids, which can be raised and lowered on their own electric winches. Furthermore, the new design has three separate hydraulic pumps that provide main, auxiliary and back-up power for the system, along with four feedthrough ports for each individual test chamber, for increased capability for electrical testing under pressure.
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The Hydro Renewable Connector (HRC)
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The Hydro Renewable Connector (HRC), the result of extensive research and development has been designed to meet the specific needs of the marine renewable market. The HRC connects wave or tidal power generation units to heavy armoured seabed cables. The current design is rated at 12kV and future product development will increase the operating voltage to 33kV. Hydro Group managing director, Doug Whyte, said “Marine renewables are a key focus for the company, not only in the UK, but also internationally as other country’s governments commit considerable financial support to their own energy strategies.
Salvage
Chemical tanker refloated
Chemical Tanker
Vinca Gorthon
T&T BISSO has successfully refloated a chemical and oil tanker that ran aground near Jamaica.
Titan Salvage’s jack-up barges Karlissa-A and Karlissa-B were used in the wreck removal of the Vinca Gorthon, a roll-on/roll-off vessel, which sank in the North Sea in 1988. The Ministry of Waterways North Sea Division, part of the Dutch, Ministry of Waterways, awarded Titan the wreck removal project.
The company mobilised a salvage team, lightering equipment and pollution response gear after the tanker, loaded with 17 000t of ethanol, ran aground off the southeast coast of Jamaica after sailing from Port Esquivel. The T&T BISSO salvage team performed a shipto-ship transfer of 4600t of ethanol to lighten the tanker, conducted an environmental assessment and safely refloated the vessel. The crew backloaded the cargo and delivered the tanker to its owners with no damage to the environment.
The Vinca Gorthon lies approximately 29km off the Netherland coast at a depth of 24.5m in a very busy shipping traffic lane. The vessel protrudes 10m from the seabed and has become a danger to modern ships with a draft of 15m or more. The Vinca Gorthon weighs approximately 19 000t with cargo, and measures 166 meters long and 23m wide. The ship, which was laden with rolls of paper and tank trailers with paper pulp, was enroute from the Swedish port of Oskarshamn to Antwerp, Belgium when she sank. Prompt removal of the wreck is critical due to the increase in the number of ship movements in the North Sea related to developments in offshore energy, including oil
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and gas and wind parks. The wreck is blocking part of the navigational route. Titan is scheduled to have the vessel removed by Nov 2010. The Karlissa-A and Karlissa-B jack-up barges operate in the most demanding marine environments. The barges, which have a combined total of 1880m of clear deck space, can jack in depths of up to 50m. The Karlissa-B has a 272t capacity platform ringer crane. The barges can load over 900t and are adaptable to accommodate upwards of 1350t of vertical lift or 130t of lateral pull utilizing Titan pullers. In 2008, Titan used both the KarlissaA and Karlissa-B barges, which were raised 40 feet above the surf zone, to remove the New Carissa, a 640ft (195m) wood-chip carrier, which ran aground just north of Coos Bay, Oregon during a February 1999 storm. The barges served as a stable platform for the salvage team to work on and above a very active surf zone.
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Abandonment
Abandonment
Centre section of jacket removed
New Equipment for Frigg Decommissioning Project Specialist cutting provider Cutting Underwater Technologies (CUT) has completed a seven figure value project as part of the Total Norge-operated Frigg cessation project.
technology to make the 73 separate cuts into the jacket structure. The cuts ranged in size from 24–72in, and used five diamond wire cutting machines with capacities of up to 74in to complete all the cuts.
The company, a provider to the decommissioning and abandonment industry, carried out work in several phases on the Frigg DP1 and QP platform jackets for Saipem as well as the DP2 Jacket and topsides work on the MCP01 for Aker.
The work required the construction of custom-built deployment baskets for the 36in and 50in diamond wire cutting machines (DWCM), adjustable to allow different angles of approach to match the angle applicable to each individual cut.
The work was carried out over a number of campaigns in 2007, 2008 and 2009, staged to meet the timeline and support vessel availability. On the final phase of the DP1 jacket dismemberment, CUT used its innovative diamond wire cutting
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Extensive trim trials and workclass ROV skid fitment trials were carried out in advance and the bespoke approach ensured additional accessibility and buoyancy which delivered reduced cutting times and costs to the client. Additionally, for Saipem, the company carried out eight cuts as part of the
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removal of the QP jacket over two mobilisations. Working in some 99m of water CUT carried out the cuts on the primary piles (1372mm dia by 47.3mm wall thickness) as well as the insert pile 1067mm diameter by 38mm wall thickness). Each cut was completed using a single wire at an average cut time of 3.6 hrs per cut. CUT UK Sales and Marketing Manager Duncan Griffiths said: “The versatility of our approach is helping our clients develop innovative solutions to their decommissioning strategies that save time and money while minimising environmental impact. “To facilitate the installation of the floatation tanks two underdriven piles which were forming an obstruction were severed. Then, once the tanks had been
QP Jacket being lifted by crane barge
installed, a further 16 cuts to the corner (1422mm diameter, 70mm wall thickness) and the inner (1067 mm diameter, 70mm wall thickness) piles were completed. A standard 64in DWCM was used to carry out all the cuts”. CUT was subsequently awarded the contract to carry out the cutting associated with the piece-by-piece demolition of the jacket at the Stord Fjord in Norway. This project was carried out by the Groups Norwegian operation “CUT AS” based close to Stavanger at Ålgård.
Abandonment Aberdeen-based TSMarine Subsea has been awarded a £500,000 contract to abandon two North Sea wells for Petro-Canada UK. The new contract will see TSMarine Subsea prepare a programme to abandon two Category One suspended subsea wells in block 25 of the Moray Firth region for the Canadian operator. Offering a range of rigless well intervention, decommissioning and construction support solutions to the global subsea oil and gas industry, TSMarine Subsea will lead the project to sever and recover the wellheads using abrasive water jet cutting technology.
TSMarine Subsea personnel mobilise for well abandonment operations on the Rem Poseidon
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The Rem Poseidon, a multi-purpose support vessel on long term charter to TSMarine Subsea will be used to complete the project.
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Abandonment
Abandonment
Above and left: The site of the decommissioning facility at Dales Voe
Deep-water Decommissioning Base AF Decom Offshore UK and Lerwick Port Authority have entered into an exclusivity agreement with the intention of developing a deep water quay facility at Dales Voe, Lerwick, Shetland. It is to be developed as a decommissioning centre, capable of meeting the growing UK requirement for the abandonment of major structures located in the northern North Sea.
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Dales Voe features a 12.5m water depth alongside a 52m quay, which is suitable for very heavy lifts, as well as more than 20m’ water depth in the approaches and direct access to the north sea. Warehousing is available from the port authority. Work is currently under way by the port authority to expand the already extensive laydown area which will facilitate the handling of decommissioning projects.
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AF is a well established in the nordic countries for removal, demolition, environmental reconstruction and recycling of buildings, industrial plants and offshore installations. Lerwick is established as one of the principal deep-water harbours in the northern north sea, with extensive experience in the offshore oil and gas and decommissioning sectors.
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Vessels
O F F S H O R E
Vessels
Noordhoek Pathfinder The Noordhoek Pathfinder was recently launched at the De Hoop shipyard in Foxhol – The Netherlands. The ship is a state of the art 62m remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and survey support vessel. The ship is currently undergoing the final stages of installation and commissioning of the crane and survey spread prior to commencing sea trials. Shewill be fully commissioned and ready for deployment in early 2010. The Noordhoek Pathfinder is mobilised with a Grade 2 dynamic positioning system (DPII), diesel electric drive, a large moon pool, a 25t offshore crane. She is also equipped with workclass and onspection ROV systems, side scan sonar tow-fish, McArtney Focus 2 ROTV systems and a technologically advanced survey suite. With accommodation for 40 people split between single and double cabins, the Noordhoek Pathfinder exceeds the latest environmental and acoustic standards ensuring quiet operations whilst at survey speeds. The vessel’s main functions will be inspection, repair and maintenance, hydrography, geotechnical investigation, and analogue / digital geophysical survey. Noordhoek’s have also commissioned a 76m DPII saturation dive support vessel called the Noordhoek Constructor. She is also undergoing the final stages of construction and is due to commence operations in early Q1 2010.
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Vessels
..... Jumbo Javelin Jumbo Shipping’s latest newbuild, the Jumbo Jubilee, completed its maiden voyage after successfully loading, transporting and installing two 1250t shiploaders for FL Smidth in challenging circumstances. The Jumbo Jubilee sailed from her home port Rotterdam, for Vitória, Brazil, where two shiploaders were waiting, each with a processing capacity of 16 000t iron ore per hour. With ample clearance between crane jib and cargo and enough lifting height to clear the conveyor
belt at the centre of the pier, the loading operation was relatively easy. It was at Tubarão, where offloading and installation were due, that was challenging. The port of Tubarão is half open to the sea and is continuously subjected to swell. As conditions vary between 0.20m and 1.10m swell, ship and cargo can easily become the victim of roll or swing, a real challenge when handling a 1250t piece of equipment. Jumbo’s engineering department
checked swell statistics of the last ten years and using detailed weather forecasts and computer analysis to predict the vessels’ behaviour. Thus, a window of opportunity was identified consisting of manageable wave heights and periods. When a window was chosen, the vessel was ballasted to an optimum level of stability, resulting in minimum pitch and roll in the given conditions. The shiploader was lifted on board, brought to Tubarão and installed safely on its rails, under control and according to plan.
The Jumbo Jubilee
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Report
Thames Esturary Report Emu Limited has recently delivered the final report for the Outer Thames Estuary Regional Environmental Characterisation (REC) which was funded by the Marine Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund (Marine ALSF). The contract was awarded to Emu Limited in June 2008 to undertake the REC Interpretation and Analysis (following data acquisition during surveys commissioned by the Marine ALSF in Summer 2007). The completed study has produced a high quality reference document enabling confident, informed and consistent decision making by all stakeholders including developers, regulators, government advisors and other interested parties. The REC offers a context for the integrated management of offshore resources and marine spatial planning for the Outer Thames Estuary. The report provides an environmental reference statement defining marine and seabed conditions within the Outer Thames Estuary. The Outer Thames REC is part of a series of four REC Projects commissioned by the Marine ALSF to develop understanding of Britain’s submerged habitats and heritage via broad scale characterisation of the seabed habitats, their biological communities and potential historic environment assets within the regions. The Outer Thames Estuary is the first of the four REC studies to be completed. The Marine ALSF offers the opportunity to acquire and interpret a high quality, integrated physical and biological dataset for the first time in this region, enabling broad scale characterisation of the geology, seabed processes, habitats, biological communities and heritage features. The Marine ALSF Steering Group are pleased to announce the launch of the Outer Thames WEBGIS which will provide the opportunity to browse and visualise a number of geospatial datasets submitted as part of the Thames REC (Data Interpretation and Analysis) Project. The datasets for the survey and interpretation phases are available from the Marine ALSF
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Habitat and biotope complexes of the Outer Thames Estuary REC interpreted from an integrated physical
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and biological survey dataset. Copyright British Crown and SeaZone Solutions Limited. All rights reserved. Products Licence 042006.001.’
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Oceanology
Oceanology
Posidonia Oceania Posidonia oceanica is species of seagrass endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. It forms large underwater meadows that provide important environmental services to the region and beyond. Sometimes called the ‘Olive Oil of the Sea’, recent research has established a new scientific method for its detection, classification and volume estimation. Simrad Spain has proposed the use of hydroacoustic technology for this purpose.
“Just think that the loss of a single metre of grassland can lead to the disappearance of several meters of beach due to erosion,” said a spokesman. “Furthermore, regression of grasslands involves a loss of biodiversity and deterioration of water quality.”
Research The research on Oceanic Posidonia has seen a major boom in recent years.
“The importance of the flora in the marine ecosystem balance has become obvious and is beyond question,” said So why is Posidonia vital to the marine a spokesman. “Among the underwater flora of our environment the Posidonia ecosystem? oceanica is of special importance. It is a species that has a powerful attraction “The grass meadow is a ‘climax to be endemic to the Mediterranean community’ representing the highest and the key to ensuring biodiversity of level of development and complexity the seabed. that a marine ecosystem can reach, said a spokesman for Simrad. “It is subject to many threats, given the increase in human activities such “Posidonia in coastal ecosystems plays a major role for several reasons. as chemical spills, discharge of brine from desalination plants, construction Thanks to its leaf development, the of port infrastructure and indiscriminate environment frees up to 20 liters trawling. In addition, other non-human of oxygen per day and per m2 of factors such as the encroachment of meadow. It produces and exports invasive species to the Posidonia also biomass both to surrounding pose a threat to their survival. ecosystems and to greater depths and provides shelter and breeding “We must consider the slow processes grounds for many fish, cephalopods, of growth and recovery of a damaged bivalves, gastropods, echinoderms area. It is estimated that the Posidonia and tunicates. extends through the meadows at the rate of one centimetre per year, so “It consolidates the seafloor to help if you try to retrieve a square foot, it offset costs and excessive sediment would take a century to achieve your transport due to coastal currents. It also acts as a barrier, attenuating the goal.” force of currents and waves and thus “Until recently, scientists have used preventing coastal erosion. Finally, it methodologies based on diving dampens the waves through the and capturing video images in their layer of dead leaves deposited on study areas. Current technology the beaches, which protects against has improved the qualitative and erosion, especially during winter quantitative research capabilities, storms.” and the application of different hydro acoustic detection systems has The disappearance of grasslands provided a variety of information. has negative effects, not only on the micro-ecosystem itself but also on Documents published by the European linked ecosystems.
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Acoustics Association, highlighted the excellent results obtained in detecting and classifying seabed vegetation by combined application of acoustic methods. They combined a single beam echosounder, which enables classification of the seafloor and its vegetation, a multi-beam sonar, which generates micro-relief, and a side scan sonar, imaging the seafloor reflectivity and thus enabling the spatial classification of seafloor types and vegetation. The data from these systems are merged and processed, resulting in 3D images of the same quality and precision as found in the field of biomedicine. Quantitatively speaking, this technology can work simultaneously with oceanographic parameters. All this information is linked to the presence and quantity of Posidonia. As for the quantitative method, prospecting new technologies allow a wide area of study while minimising data collection time. Thanks to the
The main scientific studies involve hydroacoustic systems. There are three basic technolgies – wide swath bathymetry, side scan sonar and single beam echosounder working simultaneously. The researchers used a GeoAcoustics GeoSwath Plus which made the use of a separate side scan sonar obsolete as it acquires geo-referenced side scan data.
digital storage of all data acquired during the survey, one can make historical databases that allow monitoring of the expansion or reduction in the length of the field of underwater flora. It is possible to study how quality varies over time by comparing contemporary data with the previous sampling. Many scientists emphasise the new possibilities opened by the combined application of different acoustic systems. Each of the systems available, depending on their features, offers various types of information about the flora.
New Methodologies
In an experiment conducted in France by the company in collaboration with TS SEMANTIC GESMA, for defence purposes, the aim was to detect mines hidden in the vegetation. Several systems were combined to cross-correlate the signals from different types of bottoms (sand with and without plants, rocks) with samples obtained at different depths
and with different settings of the systems (transmit power and pulse length between them). Acoustic systems combined in this test were: l A side scan sonar l The GeoAcoustics shallow water wide swath bathymetry system GeoSwath Plus, which simultaneously acquires bathymetry with a swath width of 12 times the water depth and geo-referenced side scan data l The scientific high-precision echosounder Simrad EK60 The side scan sonar shows the reflectivity of the seafloor and discriminates areas where there are plants or sand. The GeoSwath Plus system, however, provides bathymetry and geo-referenced side scan data. Both datasets can be merged to generate a three dimensional image representing the bathymetry and backscatter of the seafloor. This unique feature allows the
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Oceanology
..... correlation of the three-dimensional data with the location and extent of Posidonia meadow areas. The scientific probe records the acoustic pulses to generate a profile of the seafloor. These data are recorded simultaneously with the D-GPS position. Since the sandy areas and vegetation meadows provide different signatures, by applying the algorithm analysis, it discriminates between different types of seafloor. In this first phase, it detects the presence of Posidonia. In that case the system estimates its height and abundance. The presence of Posidonia is limited to the depth to which sunlight reaches, the photic zone, so most of these studies are conducted in shallow water. This, combined with the high resolution of the acoustic systems, generates maps that resemble virtual reality. This methodological concept corroborates that the innovations technology offers give high performance and ensure scientists new and improved ways to study. Moreover, these technologies enable the direct study of large areas with very high resolution, whereas the traditional approach of visual sampling was limited to very small zone and therefore the use of statistical extrapolation. This methodology provides several advantages: the mappings are very precise and there is no need to repeat the survey again and again to compare results. Another advantage is that it significantly reduces the costs of underwater inspections: divers, cameras, videos, etc. A direct scientific application is the fact that the concentration of plants has civil and military uses: the plants can hide mines placed on the seafloor and also alter the performance of the sensors used for detection (especially the laminaria species).
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Oceanology
Oceanology
English Channel Bathymetry SeaZone took a major step forward in December 2009 towards its aim to create a high resolution and accurate bathymetry model of the UK Continental Shelf by completing the first phase of its Bathymetry Improvement Programme for the northern English Channel between South Foreland and Land’s End. The new bathymetry model will become a core reference dataset in SeaZone’s digital marine mapping product, HydroSpatial. With increasing pressure on the marine environment and the requirement to maximise value from existing public sector information
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holdings, the new model in particular and HydroSpatial generally are already proving to be important tools to support offshore renewable energy development, marine planning and policy making.
The bathymetry model, believed to be the first of its kind, is created from ‘best available’ digital survey bathymetry data from a variety of different sources. It is being used by British Geology Survey to improve our understanding of sea bed geology and by Cefas (and others) as input to habitat mapping. SeaZone has spent the past three years gathering and digitising data,
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going as far as identifying and gaining permission to use and capture survey sheets (also known as fair sheets) stored in archive at the UK Hydrographic Office. In total, SeaZone has invested in the capture of over 400 surveys to create this unique database of the UK’s underwater terrain. The data represents the most detailed water depth data available, either from modern multibeam surveys or single beam surveys dating back to 1970. All of the data used in the work has been collected to the IHO’s International Survey Standard, S-44, and quality controlled at the UK Hydrographic
Office or another competent authority. By using survey data as input, the new model is more accurate than depth data displayed on traditional navigational charts, which is widely known to be coarser in resolution and conservative in depth. To date, SeaZone has collated over 2.2 billion soundings from 5,000 surveys. Accurate area extents and metadata are created for each survey and the metadata published to the MEDIN portal, as well as being used internally by SeaZone and its customers. The data and metadata is used as input to SeaZone’s Digital Survey Bathymetry (DSB) data product and as input to the bathymetry model. From this unique Oracle database, significant resource is invested to create a single seamless surface of sea bed elevation representing the most up to date and dense data available. The work, typically known
Oceanology
..... as ‘survey de-confliction’, is undertaken using specially designed GIS software developed at SeaZone to read survey points directly from Oracle. The de-confliction work separates the many overlapping surveys against each other based on a number of rules or attributes, most importantly survey age, survey type and sounding density. The result is a set of modified survey extents which are clipped against one another to keep the best available data in full, creating a seamless surface of depth soundings. T he clipped survey extents are used to label each sounding in the Oracle database, with an active or inactive identifier, so that only the active soundings from each survey are used as input into the bathymetric model. The survey extents also form a meta layer, similar to the ‘source data diagram’ on an Admiralty Chart, which is used to identify the age and provenance of the data used in the model. Using SeaZone’s French partner, Geomod, BathySIS software, the de-conflicted sounding data are used to create a triangulated irregular network (TIN) model (using Delaunay triangulation methods), which in turn is used to create a gridded model of varying resolutions. . At a resolution of 1 arc second (or approximately 30m), physical features such as trenches, ridges, sand banks and sand waves are more easily distinguishable, even in areas where only single beam echo sounder data is used as input. By maximising the value of existing data in this way, investment in new surveys, such as those of the MCA’s Civil Hydrography Programme, can be better targeted on priority or unsurveyed areas. As new data becomes available, this can be easily ingested into SeaZone’s database to update the model.
Comparison of the bathymetric model (1arc second grid resolution) created from survey data from nautical charts (above left) and from digital survey data (above right) Left: Deconflicted survey extents overlaid on the bathymetric model of the Solent and waters surrounding the Isle of Wight, (30m grid resolution)
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Oceanology
Oceanology
Polar Research Vessel STX Finland Oy and the South African Department of Environmental Affairs have signed a contract for construction of a polar supply and research vessel. The ship with a value of approximately €116 million will bring some 600 man-years of work. The ship will be built in the Rauma shipyard and it will be delivered in spring 2012. The ship will function as a multi-purpose vessel, serving, among other things, as a supply vessel, research vessel, icebreaker, expedition vessel, as well as a passenger ship. The ice-strengthened vessel will be approximately 134m long and it will have accommodation for a crew of 45 and some 100 researchers or passengers. The polar supply and research vessel will be used to carry scientists and research equipment for the South African National Antarctic Programme in the sea area between South Africa, the Antarctic islands and the Antarctica. The ship can spend several months out at sea and it also acts as a mobile laboratory. Scientists can also conduct various marine research onboard the ship. The ship is classified for carrying passengers. Furthermore, the vessel keeps continuous record of weather data for meteorological institutions around the world. The vessel has a shelter and landing area for two Puma class helicopters and it will feature laboratories, a gym, a library, and a small hospital. Timo Suistio, Director of the Rauma shipyard, said that the trade agreement is of great importance both for STX Finland’s Rauma shipyard and the trade relations between Finland and South Africa in general. “This is one of the biggest individual civil trade agreements the Finnish industry has made with South Africa,” said Suistio. “Furthermore, the agreement will naturally have a positive effect on the employment at the Rauma shipyard. “The design work on the new research vessel will
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commence immediately and the ship will enter production in September 2010. The ship will be delivered to the Owner, the South African Department of Environmental Affairs, in spring 2012.” Henry Valentine, Director: Antarctica and Islands, said that “allocating this level of funding for the new vessel despite the current pressure on the national fiscus reflects the SA Government’s commitment to the South African National Antarctic Programme. “The new ship, apart from its supply function, will be a catalyst to rebuild the deep-sea oceanography capacity in South Africa. This would also attract participation of international scientists and researchers, thus significantly contributing to research projects addressing new challenges and changing interests, for instance, climate change research.”
Main Dimensions Length overall, 134.00 m Length between perpendiculars 121.25 m Breadth, moulded 21.70 m Depth to Upper Deck, moulded 13.55 m Depth to Main Deck, moulded 10.55 m Design draft 7.65 m Deadweight at design draught, 5020 t Gross Tonnage 12 000 Service Speed 14.0 knots Speed in 1.0 m level ice 5.0 knots Passengers 100 Crew 44 Cargo hold capacity 4000 m3 Classification Society: DNV Flag: South Africa Number of passenger cabins: 46 Number of crew cabins: 41 Class notation: + 1A1, ICE CLASS IACS PC5, WINTERISED BASIC, DAT(-35), EO, RP, HELDEK-SHF, CLEAN DESIGN, COMF V(2)/C(2), NAUT-AW, TMON, BIS, DYNPOS-AUT, DE-ICE, LFL Note: Structure DNV ICE-10
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Oceanology
..... Geological Research Vessel Wärtsilä is to design and supervise the construction of a modern oceanographic research vessel for the marine wing of the Geological Survey of India (GSI).
“Wärtsilä has a good understanding of this, as inputs to the design process will be coming from people who have sailed as scientists on research vessels for many years,” says Sandvik.
In addition to design and supervising the construction process, Wärtsilä will be involved in selecting the onboard scientific instruments, and in arranging training for GSI scientists to ensure that the vessel’s capabilities are fully utilised.
A new set of rules apply to the design of this research vessel. The focus is on how the scientific tools perform and on the vessel’s ability to adapt to what she will be expected to explore in the future.
“The new vessel is the third of its kind that Wärtsilä is designing for India,” said Mr Arne Stenersen, Managing Director, Wärtsilä Ship Design in Norway. “The first one, Sagar Nidhi, is already in service and being operated by the National Institute of Ocean Technology. She is expected to support research work in the Indian Ocean and the Antarctic. Sindhu Sadhana, the second vessel, is under construction.”
A New Approach
“It’s an interesting design challenge,” said Sandvik. “She has to be capable of carrying out complicated operations such as handling remotely operated vehicles ( ROVs), supporting manned underwater submersibles and controlling autonomous drills that can drill up to 150m below the seabed
new territory, including regional-level exploration for mineral resources, inputs for engineering projects, and geotechnical, geo-environment, seismotectonics, natural hazards and glaciology investigations. An ocean-going research vessel and two GSI coastal vessels have been carrying out seabed surveys within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), India’s territorial waters and in international waters. GSI’s mandate is to quantify the country’s existing resources and identify new ones.
Wärtsilä were given 120 days to create this totally new design.
“Our designers will take full account of the scientists’ needs,” says Mr Egil Sandvik, Sales Manager, Wärtsilä Ship Design. “Good facilities for handling equipment, laboratories and workshops, ample space for living quarters and meetings, the correct positioning of transducers and last but not least, good levels of comfort.” A high-speed LAN and internet connections will link the vessel’s control rooms, laboratories and accommodation to the outside world. The vessel designers have to reproduce the working conditions enjoyed by scientists ashore.
at depths of a thousand metres – not to mention the collection of seismic data and simple operations such as water and soil sampling. The demands and requirements associated with future tasks always have to be kept in mind.” The new vessel will have accommodation for 69 people. With an overall length of 95m, breadth of 19m, maximum draught of 6m and speed of 14kts, it will have an endurance of 45 days. Completion of the project is scheduled for the first quarter of 2012. Established in 1851, GSI is India’s second-oldest survey company. Right from the beginning, it has been probing
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The Sagar Nidhi, in service and being operated by the National Institute of Ocean Technology
Wärtsilä entered the Indian ship design market in 2002. The first contract signed was for a research vessel for the National Institute of Ocean Technology in Chennai. It was launched in 2007. Wärtsilä’s second ship design contract was with the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa. This vessel is currently under construction. In addition to these, Wärtsilä in India has a ship design contract for a diving support vessel - another special design. Contracts of a more standard type include MPSV, AHTS and OSV vessels, all of which are being built in India for different
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Classification
Classification Ice-Class
The first ice-class floating storage and offloading system (FSO) to be completed at a Caspian Sea shipyard and deployed for service in the Caspian Sea is to be issued ABS classification. The Yuri Korchagin is set to be towed out of Baku for installation, hook-up and commissioning this week. It is destined for the Yuri Korchagin Field in the Russian sector of the Caspian where it will operate for Lukoil. The FSO hull was constructed in two longitudinal halves by Keppel Singmarine in Singapore and was towed through the Volga-Don River Canal and assembled at Keppel Fels’ Caspian Shipyard Company (CSC) in Baku, Azerbaijan. According to ABS District Manager Simon Jones, the size limitation of the Canal dictated that the unit be constructed in two modules for import into the region. The two hull sections were aligned and joined in drydock at the Caspian shipyard. The helideck and accommodation quarters, as well as other equipment, were loaded alongside the hull sections and also assembled at CSC. ABS was involved in the project from the outset, continuing through initial construction to assembly and final delivery, working closely with the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS).
The unit has been built to the ABS class notation +A1, Floating Storage and Offloading System, Ice Class C0, +AMCCU, FL(20). The unit is 132.8m in length, 32m in width has a depth of 15.7m. It has a fatigue life of 20 years and is dual classed with RS. The FSO can withstand ice conditions of minus 20 degrees Celsius and ice thickness of 0.6 meters. Russia’s Lukoil is targeting December to start commercial oil production. When in operation it will be the largest FSO in the Caspian Sea. ABS Senior Surveyor Donald Dunlop, the project surveyor from Azerbaijan, reports ABS will be in attendance during the installation of the unit and will also class the mooring system once completed. ABS has helped other operators meet the challenges of Caspian operating requirements, most notably Maersk’s first semi-submersible rig, DSS-20CAS-M and the ABS-classed Parker Rig 257, the world’s first arctic-class drill barge, operating in the shallow waters of the Northern third of the Caspian. ABS has a robust ice program within its Corporate Research and Product Development Department. The aim of the program is to develop stateof-the-art methodologies and tools for assessment of ships and offshore structures operating in ice.
First LNG FSRU
GENOA-based classification society RINA has taken a lead in the developing market for floating LNG terminals. It has been chosen to class the first offshore floating storage and regasification Unit (FSRU), and is providing studies and support for a number of further offshore LNG projects, including the newbuilding which is likely to be the world’s second offshore LNG FSRU. Addressing the Mare Forum Houston conference, Massimo Volta, RINA’s General Manager America, said, “Italy leads the world in implementing offshore LNG terminals. We have recently brought the Adriatic LNG terminal on stream, and we have five more live projects for floating and gravity-based offshore LNG terminals around our coasts. “RINA is involved with all these in a number of ways, and our expertise is now being sought by other countries developing offshore LNG projects. We are very proud to have been chosen as the first classification society in the world to class a true offshore floating LNG FSRU, for the OLT Offshore LNG Toscana project.”
The OLT development will see the 138 000m3 Moss-type Golar Frost converted into a 3.75billion m3 per year FSRU, moored in 120m of water off Italy’s west coast port
The ABS classified Yuri Korchagin FPSO
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of Livorno. It will act as a receiving terminal for importing LNG, regasifying the LNG and pumping it into Italy’s gas grid. The OLT FSRU is currently under conversion in Dubai Drydocks and will be towed to Livorno at the end of 2010, with the aim of coming on stream in 2011. An external turret is being fitted, along with over 2400t of regasification equipment. The main contractor is Saipem, working for the terminal owners - a joint venture between E ON Ruhrgas, Iride, Golar LNG and OLT Energy. RINA will class the vessel and provide statutory certification on behalf of the government. Through its dedicated oil and gas team it is also providing authority and owner engineering, ship handling simulation and assistance with local and international regulatory compliance. Following the OLT FSRU, RINA is heavily engaged in providing a range of services to assist the Triton FSRU project. That will be a 5 bcm newbuilding FSRU, to be developed by GdF-Suez and Hoegh. RINA was also closely involved in the development of the 8 bcm Adriatic LNG terminal, providing a wide range of analytical and supervision services, plus assistance with regulatory compliance. This gravitybased concrete terminal was built in Spain, towed to its site in the Adriatic and settled on the seabed in 27 m of water, where it came on stream in the second half of 2009. The world’s first offshore LNG terminal, it is jointly owned by Exxon Mobil, Qatar Petroleum and Edison.
Classification
.....
GL Noble Denton GL Noble Denton is part of the GL Group and currently employs over 2900 technical and operations specialists and experts in 54 offices throughout the globe. As an independent advisor, GL Noble Denton is a full-service provider with broad upstream, midstream and downstream competence for the complete asset lifecycle. It offers consulting, design, assurance, operations and project consulting services combining in depth engineering and analytical skills with operational experience. “With rising oil prices we expect a high demand for consultancy and assurance services in the oil and gas industry. It is obvious that the backlog of investments will come to an end sooner than later”, says John Wishart, President of GL Noble Denton. “We want to be ready in time.” GL Noble Denton supports and assists oil and gas clients in all technical, safety and assurance related questions. This includes onshore production, onshore pipelines, storage, import terminals, LNG facilities, refineries and petrochemical plants, distribution networks as well as mobile offshore drilling units, floating production systems, fixed platforms, subsea and riser systems, offshore support vessels, tankers and shipping and offshore pipelines. “We have strong expertise in complex oil and gas assets - with assurance, asset integrity, safety and risk, marine operations, project management and software services to match”, says John Wishart. “We know when a design is optimal, an installation is fit for purpose, and an asset is operating at maximum efficiency with minimum downtime.”Over the next two years GL Noble Denton plans to hire more than 700 new technical personnel, engineers and marine operations specialists
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Business
Business Oceanteam
Oceanteam has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with J. Ray McDermott for transfer of approximately 50% of the shares in North Ocean II AS and approximately 50% of the partnership interests in North Ocean II KS from its whollyowned subsidiary Oceanteam Shipping 102 AS. The deal includes the transfer of 75% of the shares in North Ocean V AS from the subsidiary Oceanteam Shipping 105 AS. North Ocean II AS and North Ocean II KS are the ship owning companies for CSV North Ocean 102, while North Ocean V AS is the ship owning company for CSV North Ocean 105 (to be built). In addition, affiliates of J. Ray have entered into a five-year charter for the vessel CSV North Ocean 105 to be built at Metalships, Vigo Spain. The CSV North Ocean 105 new build project is subject to completing a Spanish tax lease structure for the vessel and ship financing.
A five year charter of CSV North Ocean 102 will start upon redelivery of the vessel upon completion of the current ABB charter which is estimated to be in July 2010.
Riverstone Riverstone Holdings has completed its acquisition of Seajacks International for a total cash consideration of $207 million. Seajacks currently owns and operates two self-propelled jack up vessels out of Great Yarmouth in the United Kingdom: the Seajacks Kraken and the Seajacks Leviathan. Seajacks Kraken is currently on contract to TAQA carrying out gas field service work and will shortly commence a 15-month contract for DONG Energy to install turbines at the Walney offshore wind farm, located in the Irish Sea. Seajacks Leviathan is currently on a 15 month contract with Fluor to provide installation services at Greater Gabbard,
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SLB Smith Schlumberger and Smith International’s boards have unanimously approved a merger agreement in which the companies would combine in a stock-for-stock transaction. Under the terms of the agreement, Smith shareholders will receive 0.6966 shares of Schlumberger in exchange for each Smith share. This agreement places a value of $45.84 per Smith share, representing a 37.5% premium. Upon closing, and reflecting the issuance of new Schlumberger shares, Smith stockholders collectively will own approximately 12.8% of Schlumberger’s outstanding shares of common stock. Schlumberger expects to realise incremental pretax synergies— after integration costs—of approximately $160 million in 2011 and approximately $320 million in 2012.
Smit
Royal Boskalis Westminster Boskalis has made a public cash offer for Smit Internationale at an offer price of EUR 60 per share, excluding an interim dividend of eur 2.75 over the year 2009. The management board and the majority of the supervisory Board has recommended the offer to the shareholders for acceptance. Together with the shares currently held by Boskalis, approximately 43% of the shares are already committed.
AGR Mako The trenching and excavation company AGR Subsea has signed a representation agreement with Mako Technologies, part of Deep Down Inc. Under the agreement Mako will promote AGR Subsea’s SeaVator and ClayCutter X seabed excavation service lines in the US Gulf Coast region, and provide operational support once projects are under way.
Swathe Services Valeport is recognised as one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of hydrographic and oceanographic instrumentation. Swathe Services is recognised as a leading hydrographic survey company working with and supporting marine engineers, contractors and surveyors worldwide. The two companies have now combined forces with the announcement of a new distributor agreement with Swathe Services Australia. “Swathe Services is known for providing specialist support to the marine industry with our highly skilled team of marine surveyors and an extensive pool of survey equipment” commented James Williams, Managing Director of Swathe Services. “This new distributor agreement with
UT3 1Q 2010
Valeport will enhance our services and allow us to supply the high quality oceanographic equipment our clients are looking for. Our highly qualified team are able to support the products and provide training on all the systems to make sure our customers achieve the best results” Swathe Services will now provide the full range of Valeport systems including echo sounders, bathymetry packages, tide gauges, wave recorders and sound velocity meters. Neil Hewitt, Operations Director of Swathe Services Australia said of the new agreement “ I feel Swathe Services is well placed, as a user of the equipment, to offer a complete service from the initial consultation through to installation and set to work , and follow up support. We are delighted to be working with such a reputable company that is so well known throughout the industry”
Clough Peritus Clough has taken a further step in strengthening its oil and gas focus with a 51% investment in Peritus International, a new global subsea and marine engineering firm that provides engineering design and project management services to offshore clients, with a particular focus on difficult and deepwater environments. Peritus operations has been established in Perth, London and Houston. The company will operate independently. Steve Hindmarsh, based in Perth, will lead the organisation as Chief Executive Officer and will also be responsible for growth in Asia Pacific in his role as Managing Director for the region. Steve will be supported by Dr Chris Tam, President of the Americas, based in Houston, and Graham Taylor, Managing Director of Europe, Africa and Middle East, based in London.
Sea-Bird
Smit/Minette Bay Ship Docking SMIT has completed the acquisition Minette Bay Ship Docking in Prince Rupert, Canada. Minette Bay is active in the port of Prince Rupert with three ASD tugs. Minette Bay performed the shipdocking services for Ridley Island Coal Terminal for 25 years. This acquisition enhances SMIT Marine Canada’s current harbour towage operations on the West Coast of Canada.
Nova/Aanderaa Nova Analytics Corporation, a worldwide supplier of laboratory, field and online instrumentation, acquired the ownership of the shares in Aanderaa Data Instruments AS (AADI).
Prysman/Rybinsk Electrocabel Prysmian sehas acquired Rybinsk Electrocabel, one of the most dynamic Russian cable manufacturers. The €11 million enterprise value account for approximately €2 million equity value and approximately €9 million Net Financial Position. In 2008 Rybinsk reported a turnover of approximately €36 million with a production unit located 350 km NE of Moscow,
FMC/Multi Phase Meters FMC Technologies has completed the acquisition of Multi Phase Meters. Based in Stavanger, Norway, MPM a global leader in the development and manufacture of high-performance multiphase flow meters for the oil and gas industry.
Sea-Bird Electronics has acquired WET Labs, the manufacturer of oceanographic optics sensors that measure inherent optical properties (eg fluorometers, transmissometers, scattering sensors, and spectrometers).
FMC/Direct Drive Systems
WET Labs will remain located in Philomath, Oregon, and Bridgetown, Rhode Island, and the entire management team remains unchanged.
Cameron/Natco
Marine Subsea TSMarine Subsea will trade under a new name – Marine Subsea (UK) – after the company completed a management buy-out with support from Norwegian firm, Marine Subsea AS. Marine Subsea (UK) employs over 20 people from its Aberdeen headquarters and in the wake of the re-brand will be creating 25 new jobs. Alasdair Cowie will continue as managing director.
Business
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FMC Technologies has completed the acquisition of Direct Drive Systems, Inc. (DDS). Based in Fullerton, California, DDS is a world leader in the development and manufacture of high-performance permanent magnet motors and bearings for the oil and gas industry.
Cameron has closed on its acquisition of NATCO Group, following the approval of the previously announced merger agreement by NATCO’s shareholders at a special meeting. NATCO shareholders received 1.185 shares of Cameron common stock in return for each share of NATCO common stock held, and will receive cash reflecting the value of any fractional shares. Cameron has issued approximately 23.7 million shares related to this transaction. Simmons and Company International served as financial advisor to Cameron on this transaction.
Superior /Hallin Superior have taken over Hallin Marine at a cost of 233p per share - valuing the existing issued share capital of Hallin at approximately £96.5 million and at £103.5 million on a fully diluted basis. Superior UK is a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Superior Energy Services, Inc. and was formed for the purpose of making the £103.5 million offer for Hallin.
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Industry Groups
Industry Groups Subsea UK, OPITO
NSRI The National Subsea Research Institute (NSRI) welcomes has been joined by two new member companies. Kongsberg Maritime, which is headquartered in Aberdeen and Newcastle-based Wellstream International bring NSRI’s industry membership to 17 in less than a year since its launch. A partnership between Subsea UK, the University of Aberdeen, Newcastle University, Robert Gordon University and the University of Dundee, NSRI’s aim is to develop and lead a coordinated research strategy for the subsea sector, developing and maintaining the UK’s position as a centre of excellence for subsea technology and skills. The member companies assist with the prioritisation and development of research projects and form the NSRI’s Subsea Technology Advisory Group (STAG). This body, along with the university partners, Scottish Enterprise and the NSRI Board, determines the principal areas of research for the coming year. Bill Edgar, NSRI chairman said: “We are delighted to welcome Kongsberg and Wellstream to NSRI and look forward to their input as we develop our programme of activities for the year. The UK has found itself at the forefront of the subsea sector and along with our partners and member companies we strive to consolidate and build on this position.
The symposium also celebrated the development of research collaboration between NSRI and the National University of Singapore’s Centre for Offshore Research and Engineering (CORE). Professor Albert Rodger, chief executive of NSRI and Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Physical Sciences, University of Aberdeen has spearheaded the alliance between the institutes that share the objective of supporting the development of future technologies for the subsea industry. Professor Rodger, who spoke at the symposium, said: “The National Subsea Research Institute brings together industry and academia to focus on the development of research aligned with the needs of the global subsea sector in both the short and long-term. Other academic and industry experts to speak at the symposium included Dr Bin Wang from the University of Aberdeen’s School of Engineering; Dr Graham Stewart, Energy Business Stream Technical Director for Lloyds Register; Dr Bill Loth, WD Loth & Company (UK); Professor Loh Wai Lam from the National University Singapore and Dr Jon Machin, Schlumberger, Singapore. NSRI Chairman Bill Edgar
Subsea UK and OPITO – The Oil & Gas Academy are working together to develop a series of subsea modules within the Academy’s successful Petroleum Open Learning (POL) programme. A flexible self learning tool aimed at increasing technical knowledge, POL allows learners to take responsibility for their own training and study at their own pace. Programmes, in which learners complete a set of modules, also allow employers to develop the capabilities of their current and future workforces with successful trainees gaining a recognised National Certificate accredited by City and Guilds. The new subsea modules are targeted at a wide audience including technicians and engineers and will focus on subsea controls, valves and process components, subsea hardware, pipelines, flexible pipelines, risers and umbilical’s , ROV systems, subsea operations and subsea intervention operations. The six-module course will be completed by spring 2011. Alistair Birnie, chief executive of Subsea UK, said: “The UK Subsea sector has a dominant position in a global market, having strong connections with major projects ongoing all over the world. To retain this position and beat off worldwide competition, we must keep investing in people and in developing new capabilities to ensure we maintain our key differentiators.”
Last February, the NSRI showcased its talents at a joint symposium hosted by NSRI, and the National University of Singapore (NUS). The symposium - Subsea Challenges; Tomorrow’s Technologies –aims to further expand NSRI’s worldwide network of industry partners and members.
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Two of the leading oil and gas industry bodies have joined forces to develop a new training programme aimed at expanding the UK’s skills and expertise in the subsea sector.
David Doig, CEO of OPITO Group, said: “Developing and nurturing skills of the oil and gas employees will not only serve to enhance the industry but also extend the timeframe of activity in the North Sea.”
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Forecast
Forecast Gamechanger Report - Douglas Westwood The first edition of “The Produced Water Gamechanger Report,” developed by OTM Consulting, in partnership with energy business analysts, Douglas-Westwood, explores the options available for managing produced water from offshore oil and gas production streams. Water Management Produced water is the largest waste stream from hydrocarbon production. In fact, daily water production volumes significantly exceed that of oil volumes, to the extent that 211 million barrels of water are produced by the industry daily compared to around 85 million barrels of oil over the same timeframe. The report identifies a range of new and emerging technologies that can help operators deal successfully with produced water - including treatment, minimisation, separation and reinjection.
Produced Water Gamechanger Report
“The Produced Water Gamechanger Report,” also report provides detailed forecasts on market opportunities and growth potential for key produced water treatment equipment and technologies. It highlights that the total size of the market opportunity for final stage produced water treatment
systems is estimated to be around $4.3 billion for the next five years - and predicts that the size of market opportunity for topside produced water re-injection systems is around $9.8 billion over the same period. Case Studies & Operator Opinion
Subsea Trees Market analyst Quest projected a 25% increase in tree demand globally in 2010 compared with a lack-lustre2009. With respect to its three-year forecast, Quest estimated a 15% compound annual growth rate for subsea tree awards globally led by Brazil and Africa which represents approximately 66% of the forecast demand (mean case forecast). The industry seems to gravitate towards a consensus of growing optimism about increasing award activity long-term. Stability has been the norm for the majority of the past 4-6 months, with oil prices hovering north of US$65/barrel. This price level, and more importantly, ongoing stability, will help to provide operators with the confidence needed to begin executing projects, although this recovery will not lead to straight uphill growth. Despite some operators’ heightened confidence in the past few months, Quest expects it to take 10-12
months or more for that confidence to translate into meaningful project executions. With respect to Quest’s forecast for 2009, continued lack of confidence in global financial markets coupled with a “wait-and-see” attitude from operators small and large had a severe impact on the volume of projects during the first half of 2009. The second half of 2009, fortunately, saw a rebound in subsea orders totaling 229 trees compared with 90 trees in the first six months of the year. Quest’s annual survey of subsea tree awards totaled 319 compared with 434 in 2008. As the industry fully expected, 2009 was a low point for global awards in the subsea space commensurate with Quest’s estimate some 14 months ago – the lowest total since 2003. That said, there is plenty of upside to this recent lull in activity as operator confidence returns on the heels of recovering oil prices.
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Moreover, oil companies have a pressing need to replace depleting reserves and declining production. With the close correlation between subsea tree activity and global oil and gas prices, the outcome for 2009 was unsurprising. Brazil kicked-off the anticipated megaawards of subsea equipment in 2009 with the first tranche of standard nonpre-salt trees awarded to Cameron. This set Brazil and Cameron up to be the market share leaders for the year. This initiation of the much-anticipated award activity from Petrobras – slow to accelerate – was quickly followed up by the award of the second tranche of trees to FMC Technologies and the third to Aker Solutions. The North Sea continued to be a strong player in the subsea market in 2009 driven by Eni’s Goliat project and infill activity by Statoil off Norway. Aker Solutions was the market leader in this area for the year after securing the high-impact Goliat subsea production award.
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People
People Imagenex
Imagenex have announced the appointment of Steve Curnew as its new Sales Manager. Steve has over 20 years experience as a Sales Manager in the electronics industry. Steve joined the Imagenex team at the beginning of November 2009 and is looking forward to meeting many colleagues and customers at his UK debut, Oceanology International 2010. Thie Follows the retirement of Marketing Manager, Mitch Henselwood.
Acteon
Hafmynd Icelandic AUV manufacturer Hafmynd has welcomed Birna Maria Bjornsdottir and Stefan Reynisson to the company. Stefan will be responsible for Procurement and Quality Control and Birna will work on the sales and marketing side.
SeeByte SeeByte, developers of software for unmanned underwater vehicles, has been joined by Dr. Chris Tierney, Birgir Thorgeirsson and Tom Anderson, Dr. Chris Tierney becomes part of SeeByte as a Senior development engineer. Birgir Thorgeirsson joins SeeByte as development engineer. Tom Anderson also joins as a development engineer.
Will Rowley has joined Acteon where he will take on the role of Group Analyst.
Chris Tierney
Rowley was formerly Director, Analytical Services, for the leading industry consulting company Infield Systems. He brings to Acteon a wealth of experience of oil industry modelling, market analysis and business forecasting. Based in Acteon’s head office in Norwich, UK, Rowley will work closely with the group’s operating companies in the gathering of market intelligence. His objective is to enhance the exchange of information and help cement relationships with customers in areas of the industry where Acteon companies have the most value to offer.
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Tom Anderson
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Birgir Thorgeirsson
SLB
L-3 Klein L-3 Communications subsidiary Klein Associates (L-3 Klein) has appointed Bill Charbonneau as Regional Sales Manager for their Side Scan Sonar Systems.
ideally suited to further expand and enhance L-3 Klein’s valued customer network.
With over 20 years experience in hydrographic and oceanographic markets, both as a salesman and as a field engineer, Mr. Charbonneau is
Bill Charbonneau
Amor
Neptune
The Amor Group, global provider of business technology, has appointed Andy Corkhill as Energy Sales Director.
Neptune Marine Services has appointed Lo (Lodewijk) Van Wachem as the group’s Regional Vice President for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Lo joins Neptune in Aberdeen, Scotland from Subsea 7, where he held the positions of Operations Manager, West Africa and more
Andy will be working with Amor Group’s key clients, which include Centrica, BP, Shell, Scottish Power and SONI.
HMC The advisory board of Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) has announced that Jan Pieter Klaver has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer. He succeeds Jack Jacobs who fulfilled the CEO function on an interim basis.
Schlumberger has appointed Paal Kibsgaard Chief Operating Officer of Schlumberger. Reporting to Andrew Gould, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kibsgaard will be responsible for the day-to-day management of all worldwide operations in addition to the Schlumberger technology organisation–including engineering, manufacturing and product development.
Working with other members of the L-3 Klein team, Mr. Charbonneau will be responsible for implementing Klein’s strategy to multiply its sales of domestic and international multi-beam side scan and bathymetric sonar systems.
Martin Bowman has also taken up the post of Transport Sales Director and Paul White has become Managed Services Sales Director. A fourth director is currently being recruited to head up sales in the public sector.
People
..... Previously, Kibsgaard was President of the reservoir characterisation product group, responsible for the management of the WesternGeco, wireline, drilling and measurements and testing services product lines.
recently, Chief Operating Officer, Brazil. In his new role, Lo will manage daily operations and advance the progression of the Neptune business model within his target markets and investigate strategic opportunities for future growth.
EdgeTech EdgeTech and ORE Offshore have added Doug McGowen to their senior staff in the role of director, new business development. Mr. McGowen will work out of the company’s West Wareham facility and will focus on new products, market sectors and applications for the EdgeTech and ORE businesses. Prior to joining EdgeTech-ORE, Doug was employed in the technology sector for 10 years before transitioning into the underwater technology market eight years ago. During those eight years, he worked in many different areas of the business including
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The company has also added Jim Allan and Nick Lawrence to its senior staff in the roles of director, international business development. Jim Allan will concentrate on the West and Gulf coasts in the US in addition to China while Nick Lawrence’s area of concentration will be Europe and Africa. Allan’s background includes sales and business development positions with Kongsberg Maritime and L-3 Communications as well as running his own business for five years. Lawrence will be operating out of the UK. He held a variety of project management and engineering positions with GEMS Survey, M.K. Services and Gardline Surveys
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People
People
CTC’s MD Daryl Lynch, and Subsea Divisional Controller, Rhiannon Fernandez holding the company of the year award
CTC NOF’s CotY CTC Marine Projects has celebrated a successful year in the offshore construction industry, by being recognised as the Northern Offshore Federation (NOF) Energy’s ‘Company of the Year’. It also scooped the ‘Innovation and Technology’ award. The awards mark a year of success for the company, which includes the first diverless subsea construction and development project in the Mediterranean with a contract value of circa US$30 million, expansion into several new regions including Brazil, China, Egypt and the Middle East and diversification into the Offshore Renewable market. CTC has made a successful entry into the offshore renewables market having completed two workscopes for client E.ON, on Alpha Ventus and Robin Rigg Offshore Wind Farms. CTC is actively pursuing further workscopes in this market, while being very optimistic in the outlook for 2010 and beyond. CTC is also currently working on its first project in the Middle East where the scope of work includes the laying of power cable which is three times
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heavier than any power cable previously installed by CTC as well as being the largest power cable ever laid in the Persian Gulf. The Innovation and Technology award reflects CTC’s commitment to innovation, in particular the development of the world’s largest underwater tracked vehicle, the RT-1 Rock Trencher, which has had success in its first offshore scope of work for Shell off the West Coast of Ireland. CTC has also recently announced the contract award of USD 39 million is for the cable lay and ploughing activity on the Jeju Island Project which will increase the order backlog for 2010 and 2011. The workscope, for client KT Submarine, will involve the installation of two 105km cable bundles between Jeju Island and Jindo Mainland Korea in water depths of up to 160 metres. The first bundle will be installed in 2010 and the second bundle will be installed in 2011. CTC Marine will use a DPII multi-role construction R class vessel for this project, as well as CTC’s ISU umbilical plough.
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Michael Bellamy
GE Oil and Gas Michael Bellamy has been appointed general manager of GE’s PII Pipeline Solutions business, according to Claudi Santiago, president and CEO of GE Oil and Gas. Bellamy has served the last six years as general manager of marketing communications for GE Oil and Gas, which is headquartered in Florence, Italy. Bellamy originally joined GE through the acquisition of PII in 2002. He will be relocating to PII’s headquarters in Cramlington, Northumberland - U.K.
L-3 Klein L-3 Communications subsidiary Klein Associates (L-3 Klein) has appointed Bill Charbonneau as Regional Sales Manager for its Side Scan Sonar Systems. Working with other members of the L-3 Klein team, Mr. Charbonneau will be responsible for implementing Klein’s strategy to multiply its sales of domestic and international multibeam side scan and bathymetric sonar systems. With over 20 years experience in hydrographic and oceanographic markets, both as a salesman and as a field engineer, Mr. Charbonneau is ideally suited to further expand and enhance L-3 Klein’s valued customer network.
People
People..
Stephen Booth and Katy Wilson at the Subsea UK awards
DOF Subsea Specialist subsea service company DOF Subsea has appointed Serge Geraud as its new Operations and Business Development Director based in Angola. Formerly Offshore Construction Manager with Technip, Geraud joined DOF Subsea in December. He will be responsible for managing the company’s day to day operations which are focused on supporting developments in West Africa. He will also play a key role in developing the business in West Africa.
Double success for Atkins at Subsea UK awards Atkins’ achievements in subsea engineering over the past twelve months culminated in the company picking up a brace of awards at the Subsea Business Awards, an annual celebration of excellence across the sector. Stephen Booth, subsea director for Atkins, collected the Subsea Innovation and Technology Award for the groundbreaking work achieved by Atkins’ Joint Industry Project SAFEBUCK. Led by consultants David Bruton and Malcolm Carr, SAFEBUCK has carried out research and development into the most challenging aspects of pipeline design for deepwater or highpressure high-temperature fields, developing both design guidance and new tools to improve feasibility and reduce risk. Commenting on the award for SAFEBUCK, Stephen said: “SAFEBUCK has been a great success on many levels, drawing on deep technical knowledge from
Serge Geraud
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across Atkins and some of the world’s foremost universities and research centres. We had fantastic support from our participants, including the sharing of valuable research and operating data in order to significantly improved our knowledge and ability to deliver challenging projects.” Atkins oil and gas consultant Katy Wilson took home the award for Emerging Talent. Commended by the judges for her breadth of knowledge in subsea pipeline engineering, Katy was also praised for her work authoring a best practice guidance document on preserving the integrity of riser caissons. She was also praised for her remarkable organisational and interpersonal skills and her clear vision for what is important both technically and commercially. Katy said: “I am surrounded by some of the best minds in our industry. The team at Atkins has given me a great deal of support and mentoring over the years, so this award is as much a credit to them as it is to me.”
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..and Places
...and Places
Aker Solutions
Kongsberg HQ Kongsberg Maritime headquarters has opened its brand new extension in the Kongsberg Technology Park. The seven storey, 20,000 m2 building has space for around 550 employees and is designed to complement the original 17000 m2 Carpus building, which was opened in 2001. “The opening of the Carpus extension is a positive step for Kongsberg Maritime employees, customers and partners,” comments Torfinn Kildal, CEO, Kongsberg Maritime. “We are currently in the process of managing our way through the worldwide downturn whilst preparing for the forthcoming upturn and the new premises will allow for more efficient operations in an inspiring work environment.” The two buildings that now make up Carpus are connected via an underground tunnel and a raised,
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enclosed walkway. In addition to extensive lab and test areas that set very high standards for technical facilities, the Carpus extension seamlessly integrates office, meeting, production, storage and social space in a visually provoking, energy efficient new structure. The many bold and innovative highlights of the premises include the coloured glass elevated walkway that connects the buildings, a new interior concept with a different colour scheme on each floor. There is a focus on open space as opposed to separate offices in order to facilitate communication and optimal cooperation between staff and departments, adherence to the Tek 2007 energy efficiency program, a focus on and dedicated space for displaying art, and a stunning 14.5 m glass masterpiece located in the main atrium.
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Aker Solutions has entered into a contract with the construction company HENT to build a new combined office and hotel building at the K2 site at Fornebu. The building is planned with a total area of about 46 000m² including underground and parking areas, of which 12 000m² for the hotel. The building is planned to be completed in the first quarter of 2012 and Aker Solutions will be the tenant for the office building. The contracting party is Fornebu Gate 2 A/S, which will be owned 93% by Aker Solutions and 7% by Arthur Buchardt Invest AS. This contract is the next step in the development of the K2 site that was acquired from SPDE in the fourth quarter of 2009. The office building is an expansion to the existing headquarters to cover capacity needs from 2012.
GE Oil and Gas
MacArtney Relocation
Castrol Centralisation
GE Oil and Gas has further expanded its subsea portfolio capabilities with the opening of its new drilling and production business ‘Subsea Monitoring and Remote Technology Center’ (or SmartCenter) in Nailsea. It was officially opened by Ove Magne Kallestad, Vice President of Subsea Technology and Operations at StatoilHydro.
MacArtney Offshore, the Houston operation of the MacArtney Underwater Technology Group, has moved into larger premises. The capacity is more than doubled, from 4500ft2 to 11 000ft2.
Offshore lubricants specialists Castrol Offshore has completed the centralisation of its operations at its Global Technology Centre in Pangbourne, UK. All of Castrol’s lubricant divisions will now be based on the 35 acre site with an analytical and performance testing complex housing over 250 chemists, engineers and researchers.
The new SmartCenter is a remoteaccess data hub connected to subsea field control and instrumentation facilities around the world. The new state of the art facility will offer assistance and services to the field at every stage of development – from installation and commissioning, through field start up and onwards into routine operation for operational support, condition monitoring, diagnostics, and production optimisation.
2H 2H Offshore Engineering has opened a new office in Aberdeen to provide improved support for clients based in the area. 2H has been serving Aberdeen through its London office for over 15 years. However, the new Aberdeen office will enable the company to provide a more direct and higher quality service to operators and contractors based in and around the city.
The move significantly increases workshop and storage capacity. This allows them to accommodate larger service jobs, including medium sized winch umbilical spooling and terminations which now can be performed inside their secure premises. Cable mouldings, fibre optic terminations and the MacArtney Offshore slip ring repair facilities with Focal trained technicians have also been significantly expanded. Customer and project meetings will become easier and more comfortable thanks to conference rooms and teleconferencing. Up to 30 guests in house and 64 guests worldwide will now be able to cooperate in meetings. The new location makes MacArtney Offshore even more accessible to their customers. Most of the world’s oil and gas companies have offices within a 20km radius of the new site
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..... Commenting on the move, Paul Lowther, global marketing communications manager said: “The reason for centralising our operations at Pangbourne is to ensure that we can offer our customers the best possible standards of service in line with the performance of our products. By having the entire business unit centred on the site, the whole team can benefit from a vast array of knowledge and experience, and ensure technology, marketing and sales are all aligned, benefits our customers will see with new product and service offers. Facilities such as our specialist subsea test rigs at Pangbourne replicate the extreme working conditions our products are used in every day. This, allows us to create lubricating oils, greases and hydraulic fluids that can be used in the world’s most environmentally sensitive oceans.”
The office will initially focus on drilling riser, completion riser, conductor, and wellhead assessments, but will also take on other types of engineering with support from 2H’s London office. The Aberdeen office will be staffed through a mix of local recruitment and relocation of experienced employees from other 2H offices, ensuring the same quality of service as currently provided at other 2H locations. The new 2H office is in Tern Place House, in the Bridge of Don area of the city, home to a number of Acteon companies.
MacArtney’s new11 000ft2 facility in Houston
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..and Places
..and Places InterMoor
Deepwater
Kongsberg Sensor
InterMoor recently broke ground on its new state-of-the-art facility in Morgan City, Louisiana, with a ceremony featuring key management, and city and state officials.
Deepwater EU, the European subsidiary of the Houston-based offshore corrosion specialists Deepwater Corrosion Services, has further enhanced its attack on the corrosion market by creating a cathodic protection design and project management centre on the University of Surrey research park in Guildford, UK.
Kongsberg Maritime China Jiangsu (KMCJ), an advanced new 2880m2 sensor production facility located in the Norwegian Industrial Park in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, China, was officially opened during a traditional Chinese ceremony attended by over 150 guests.
More than 80 guests were on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony including Gov. Bobby Jindal, Morgan City Mayor Tim Matte and Port of Morgan City President Mac Wade, all of whom spoke at the event. InterMoor President Tom Fulton, Vice President of Finance Scott Thomas and Quality Assurance and Quality Control Manager Chuck Fontenot also addressed the guests. InterMoor will move its current operations in Amelia, La, to the new facility that will be developed on 24 acres and will house administrative, maintenance, operations and fabrication employees. The new facility will feature more than 30,000 sq ft of fabrication space, including a high-tech CNC cutting machine, mooring equipment and storage capabilities and a 12 000ft2 multi-purpose building for administrative and operations employees.There is a wire doping area to inspect, protect and prepare wire rope for offshore jobs; a stateof-the-art 20 000ft2 blasting and painting facility; and a 300t crane to enhance docking services. “This new facility in Morgan City will be a realization of a long-term goal of expanding our services in this area and shows our commitment for growth to our employees, the community of Morgan City, and the oil and gas industry,” said Fulton. The $17.2 million capital investment will allow the company to retain more than 200 jobs and will allow for future growth. Louisiana Economic Development (LED) estimates that the expansion will generate more than $49 million in new state tax revenues and more than $35 million in new local tax revenues over a 15 year period.
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Geoff Camm, manager of the new centre, said: “This brings together an unrivaled group of talented individuals, able to provide unique corrosion control solutions to all of our customers in the oil and gas, energy, and offshore industries.” He went onto say that the new team will be offering their clients a complete new “one stop design and support package” which has not been available. The centre will specialise in providing corrosion consultancy, from initial design assistance, third party review, failure investigation and analysis and project managed total project implementation. Alex Delwiche, engineering manager of the centre, is a NACE CP IV engineer with over sixteen years in the business. In addition, the centre employs several highly qualified and experienced cathodic protection designers and project managers from various industry sectors. They include: tank farms and pipelines, concrete infrastructure, inshore marine terminals and offshore. Jim Britton, CEO of Deepwater Corrosion Services in Houston said: “Our new offshore technologies have proven to be successful in the European market, and we are confident to commit to this expansion. We have been fortunate to recruit an exceptionally high caliber of people to staff the new office. The design centre will support our ongoing European offshore projects as well as work worldwide to include support for Algeria, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Angola and Congo.”
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Work started on the modern new sensor production facility, which is based on the same methodology and processes used at Kongsberg Maritime’s Trondheim, Norway, sensor production facility, in February 2009. “The establishment of KMCJ was an international effort, involving a number of people from different departments, from our sensor production facility in Trondheim and other Kongsberg Maritime sites,” said Håvard Johnsen, General Manager, KMCJ. “We currently have 15 employees, all of whom were hand-picked for their positions. As a high-tech, international technology company we are dedicated to bringing only the best people onboard and although most key personnel are now in place, the headcount at KMCJ will continue to grow,” says Johnsen The considerable investment in the new facility will support Kongsberg Maritime’s position as a leading developer of sophisticated sensors for marine and offshore applications such as engine monitoring, bearing wear and tank Kongsberg’s sensor team in China
CTC Marine Projects has celebrated a successful year in the offshore construction industry, by being recognised as the Northern Offshore Federation (NOF) Energy’s ‘Company of the Year’. It also scooped the ‘Innovation and Technology’ award. The awards mark a year of success for
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Flexlife monitoring, in addition to ensuring local capability to service the significant marine sensors market in the region. “Far East Asia engine manufacturers constitute a large portion of the potential market for the standard sensors produced by Kongsberg Maritime, whilst we have also identified a direct requirement from shipyards for the delivery of our sensor products,” says Andreas Jagtøyen, Vice President of Kongsberg Maritime’s Merchant Marine sensor division in Trondheim (MM-T). “The sensor production lines set up at KMCJ are intended for larger volumes and mass production for these customers, while in Trondheim, we will take care of customer specific sensors, spare parts and European orders,” continues Jagtøyen. The KMCJ production facility also features a state-of-the-art mechanical workshop, with a range of advanced CNC-machining centres, and other workshop machinery for production of sensor parts and other mechanical components. This will ensure the continued quality and reliability of Kongsberg Maritime sensor products in addition to enabling a competitive market offering. “To ensure the right product quality and to meet the market price, it was necessary to in-source and take control over the mechanical production of our sensors,” explains Oddbjørn Malmo, Production Manager at MM-T.
Flexible pipe specialist Flexlife has taken on additional premises at Aberdeen Science and Energy Park to create a world-class research and development facility specialising in flexible pipe projects and technological advances. The 1500ft2 base in the Energy Development Centre is part of company growth that has seen flexlife also expand into additional office space at its headquarters which was previously leased to tenants. The company is now occupying the whole 3,000ft2offices. Flexlife has grown from a team of eight 12 months ago to more than 20 people at present to service a number of major integrity management contracts with operators in the North Sea and internationally, including Hess, Apache North Sea and Statoil. The new facility comprises office and workshop space and represents an investment of £500 000 over five years. Stuart Mitchell, Flexlife’s director of integrity, said: “We started out in business in 2007 with the aim of devising innovative solutions to the most common problems with flexibles. Our first product to detect leaks in flexible pipes was launched around a year ago and has completed nearly £2million of work in the North Sea alone since then. “We are now in the process of bringing our next phase of the technology to market in the form of permanent collars that can monitor flexibles continually for breaches and corrosion. In addition, we have several other patents and are working to commercialise additional products. flexlife recorded turnover of £3million 2008/09 and is predicting growth of at least 70% in 2009/10. New operational bases are scheduled to open in Brazil and
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Asia Pacific by the end of this year. The revolutionary scanning technology launched a year ago is the first to be able to successfully scan flexible risers in situ. The application can scan for a flooded annulus and flexible pipe armour wire corrosion, factors which significantly affect the service life of flexible risers commonly used on floating production vessels (FPSOs). It is mounted on an ROV and can operate in deepwater, helping to extend the lifespan of flexible pipes and minimise additional cost, personnel and environmental impact for clients.
Expro Expro has unveiled plans for a new multi-million dollar facility in Takoradi, Ghana. Expro is currently operating in Takoradi with 28 employees working on the Tullow Oil Jubilee contract, supplying deepwater electro-hydraulic subsea services in addition to a range of other services. Expro has been involved with Tullow in Ghana from the exploration and appraisal phase of Jubilee through to the fast-track delivery of a high-end electro-hydraulic subsea completion system. The decision to construct a new site means all project activity, including well testing, cleanup, sampling and PVT (pressure, volume, temperature) services, can be coordinated and monitored from a custom-built, fully integrated facility. The bespoke 8000m2 facility, which will house extensive workshop and office space, is being developed around ‘modular concepts’ which provide efficient work areas and can expand with greater ease, as future operations in the region dictate.
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SUT Reports
SUT
AGM London By Mariam Pourshoushtari The SUT announced the election of its new president at its AGM on 10th December. During the meeting aboard HQS Wellington moored at London’s Embankment, David Brookes announced the appointment of Dr Colin Summerhayes, who was also made Honorary Fellow during the SUT’s annual awards and new fellowship presentation. Having graduated in geology from University College London (1963), Dr Summerhayes has a PhD in applied geochemistry from Imperial College London (1970), and holds MSc (1966) and DSc (1986) degrees in geology from Victoria University, New Zealand. Throughout his long and accomplished career, Colin has been involved in a number of significant research projects concerning geooceanography and has edited and authored various books and papers. Since March 2004, Colin has been executive director of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research,
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based at Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in Cambridge, and a Member of the SPRI. There he has stimulated development of observing systems for the cryosphere and the Southern Ocean, co-authored two recent papers reviewing Antarctic climate and is co-editor of Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment 2007–2008: A Contribution to the International Polar Year. He is currently a Fellow and Chartered Marine Scientist of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST), where he is a member of the Science Advisory Working Group, a member of the Publications Review Board and an editor of the Journal of Operational Oceanography, of which he was a founder. The evening took on a different format than previous years, as members were invited to stay on for dinner after the AGM and awards ceremony. The new timetable for the event saw the AGM and awards ceremony begin at 17:30,
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Left to right: (front row) Martyn Witton, Melissa Saeland, Dr Colin Summerhayes, Ray Phillips (middle row) Ben Smith, Dr Jonathan Evans, Brian Threlfall (back row) Bob Manson and Phil Hawthorn
followed by a drinks reception from 18:15 to 19:45, and then the dinner, attended by 100-plus members. The evening proved to be very successful, with positive feedback from all the attendees. After the dinner, a game of ‘Heads and Tails’ was lead by Ian Gallett, now business development executive of the SUT, and was eventually won by Dr Summerhayes, who immediately contributed his winnings to the Educational Support Fund. The game raised a fantastic sum of £800 for the fund, and all participants were thanked for their contributions. Additionally, Ian was thanked for his many years of hard work as leading the SUT, while Dr Bob Allwood was welcomed in his new position as chief executive by the membership. Preceding the dinner was the SUT awards ceremony, which featured
The Tom Patten Memorial Award for outstanding final-year undergraduate student was awarded to Melissa Saeland of the University of Wales, Bangor. The BP/SUT award for the best thesis in offshore and subsea engineering and technology was awarded to Ben Smith of the University of Southampton for his project, ‘A The development of a bio-inspired method to recover energy from unsteady flow’. The postgraduate award will be presented
at the Oceanology International in March 2010. The Houlder Cup was awarded to Dr Phil Nuytten for his contribution to underwater operations. He could not attend the awards ceremony, so arrangements will be made for him to receive his award at a later date. The David Partridge Commemorative Award, jointly sponsored by the SUT and the former Offshore Energy Technology Panel, was made to Ray Phillips. The President’s Award this year was presented to Martyn Witton in recognition of his long and distinguished career in underwater
AGM Aberdeen
The Aberdeen Branch of SUT held its Annual Dinner and AGM on the evening of Wednesday, 2 December 2009, at the Marcliffe Hotel. An outstanding attendance of 310 people enjoyed a champagne reception sponsored by Lime Rock Partners, a four-course meal with the wine sponsored by iicorr and a very entertaining after-dinner speaker, Mr Dougie Donnelly, sponsored by J P Kenny. The Martin Richmond Award was presented during the dinner. The award, in its fourth year, was set up between J P Kenny and SUT in memory of Martin who died from cancer in January 2006 at the age of 52. Martin was employed by J P Kenny at the time of his death and was chairman of the Aberdeen Branch of SUT.
The award is made to a mature postgraduate student who has performed most diligently throughout the course under demanding and mitigating personal circumstances. This year the award went to Corrie Ewart who graduated with distinction in an MSc Oil and Gas Engineering from Robert Gordon University earlier in 2009. Whilst studying for his MSc Corrie was in full-time employment with BP as well as supporting his wife and two children. The form of the award is actually derived from a separate competition involving RGU’s Gray’s School of Art for an original piece of artwork. The winner of the art competition receives a monetary award sponsored by J P Kenny. This year the award went
technology and his tremendous contribution to the success of the Society in recent years. Everyone was delighted that Martin could make the trip from Jakarta to attend and receive his award. SUT Fellowships were awarded to Phil Hawthorn, Bob Manson, Dr Jonathan Evans and Brian Threlfall. All attendees were pleased to see Brian, who came from Melbourne, Australia, to receive his award at the AGM. Others receiving Fellowship awards to be given locally are Prof Segen Estefen in Rio de Janeiro, Jim Leven and Harry Mackay in Perth, Australasia, and Phil Collins in Houston, USA.
to Lynsey Ferguson. Lynsey is currently in her fourth year of the ‘BA (Hons) Painting’ programme. Another award presented during the dinner was the Award of Merit and is given to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to SUT Branch activities, underwater technology, the underwater industry and the aims and objectives of the Society. The Award of Merit for 2009 was awarded to Mr Ron Bird of J P Kenny/Ionik Consulting. The mandatory game of ‘Heads and Tails’ raised an outstanding amount of £2615 for the SUT’s Education Support Fund. The SUT is grateful to all who took part and contributed.
Artist Lynsey Ferguson presents her painting as the Martin Richmond Award to recipient Corrie Ewant of BP
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SUT Reports
various awards honouring those who have made exceptional contributions to underwater technology.
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SUT Reports
North of England Branch
AGM Newcastle and Subsea with BP
Evening Meeting Wednesday, 25 November 2009 By Dr Jerry Baker The first AGM of the newly formed North of England Branch of the Society for Underwater Technology was held on 25 November at the Royal Station Hotel, attended by well over 100 people who came from as far away as Glasgow and Fife. It was opened by the Branch Chair, Dr Jerry Baker, who noted that three meetings had already been held, this being the fourth, in the first year. He thanked all the speakers and sponsors. Of those speakers, five had been members of the local committee, and he extended the hope that other members could suggest ideas for future topics. Dr Baker reminded the attendees that a formal election will be held for admission to the committee after the first full year of its activity in November 2010. Dr Baker then gave the floor to the Honorary Treasurer, Dr Ian Frazer, who reported that income had exceeded expenditure by a small amount. Thanks were expressed to
Ms Irene Spence for her administrative work before the speakers for the evening were introduced. The technical presentations were given by BP’s David Brookes, Chief Engineer, Subsea and Floating Systems, and Mark Worsley, Segment Engineering Technical Authority for Subsea Systems. David started with an overview of BP’s projects from 2004 to 2014, and gave a fast-flowing and lucidly erudite account of the global BP projects in deepwater areas. He mentioned that BP investment in subsea engineering was scheduled to rise from 20% to 35% by 2017 and that the number of subsea wells – 260 subsea wells have been developed in the last 30 years – is due to double within the next 6–10 years. Attention was given to characteristic challenges facing the development of hydrocarbon reserves from subsea reservoirs including: highpressure high-temperature (HPHT), subsea separation and processing,
Melbourne Branch
Developments in materials and components for new offshore and subsea applications SUT Melbourne Branch in conjunction with Trelleborg organised a Lunch and Learn event titled ‘Developments in materials and components for new offshore and subsea applications’ on the 23 November 2009 at Mitre Tavern Steakhouse, Melbourne. Two presenters from Trelleborg were invited to present at the event.
Bastiaan Scheepers, manager – Integrated Offshore Mooring of Trelleborg Harbour and Marine, on the other hand, gave an outline of the developments in topsides integrated mooring solutions, which includes tandem mooring and ship to ship transfer, in the emerging floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) markets.
The first presenter, Ole Bjorn Rasmussen, market development manager of Trelleborg Offshore Norway gave a presentation on developments in rubber for offshore and subsea applications. Ole Bjorn presented an overview of how rubber can be used for corrosion and fire protection, and how and why the technology has developed over the past 10–15 years from providing corrosion protection of risers to what is on offer today.
Bastiaan also discussed the docking aid systems, load monitoring and remote release technology, as well as classification society requirements in Australia. A typical layout from an actual project was shown to the attendees during the presentation.
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A Question and Answer session was held at the end of the event was deemed successful with the attendance of 15 participants, mainly from the subsea Industry.
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hydrate and waxing formations, long distance tie-backs, high-integrity pressure protection system (HIPPS) installations, increasing water depths with attendant colder fluids and maintaining the mechanical integrity of the subsea infrastructure. Mark then spoke of specific issues under the heading, ‘Subsea Technical Challenges and Their Solutions’. He drew attention to incidents whose resolution had cost many millions of dollars, while avoidance, through attention to detail at the design or fabrication stages, would have cost only hundreds of dollars. Examples included Thunder Horse, in the Gulf of Mexico, where buttered welds of corrosion-resistant alloys had failed, and Greater Plutonio, offshore Angola, where high differential pressures had led to seawater contamination of injection fluids. He also noted the problems caused by using duplex stainless steels for template pipework, such as offshore Norway where templates are favoured, because fitting the pipework into the restricted space inevitably leads to high stresses. Time was given to the dearth of application of technological innovations emerging from R&D programmes, and Mark pointed out that the difficulties associated with developing fields ‘under ice’ in the Arctic will demand increased collaboration within the industry. Mark expressed the need to break the taboos on sharing problems and their resolution between operators and to bring the industry to a closer correlation with the aviation Industry, where safety and asset integrity present similar issues of public interest. Both speakers stressed the need to flatten the peak and trough cyclicity in the industry and to embark on endeavours to bring stability to the markets, mitigate against cost inflation and impact equipment lead times. Some ideas included introducing a greater element of standardisation in subsea equipment through vendor agreements and the emergence of a subsea reliability strategy.
UT
3
UT3 is a new online magazine covering the subsea industry. It does not have the space restrictions of the print version but has a considerably greater geographic distribution. Log on to the website
www.ut-2.com and click the UT3 logo
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