UT3 Issue Three 2017
1 UT3 Issue 3 June July 2017
2 UT3 Issue 3 June July 2017
UT3 Issue 3 2017
UT3 Issue Three 2017
1 UT2 Issue 2 April June 2017
Launch of Surveyor Interceptor ROV
Image: MMT
Vol 11 No 3
Society for Underwater Technology 1 Fetter Lane London EC4A 1BR
+44 (0) 1480 370007 Editor: John Howes John@ut-2.com Editorial Assistant: Lauren Order Production: Sue Denham Advertising: Zinat Hassan UT3subsea@gmail.com ISSN: 1752-0592
Published by UT2 Publishing 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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UT3 Issue 3 June July 2017
NEWS Industry Project On Standardising Subsea Processing Boosts Up To Phase 2 Subsea processing is a relatively young field of technology, however, these are costly and inefficient tailor-made solutions. DNV GL has led a joint industry project (JIP) on standardising subsea processing aims to reduce cost in a lifetime perspective. Initially focusing on subsea pumping, the partners in Phase 1 have now concluded the functional description of subsea pumping. Phase 2 will deliver standardised guidelines. With all the four leading system suppliers on board, new operators are still welcome to join the project. According to DNV GL’s seventh annual benchmark study, standardisation efforts are on the rise to remove complexities, with two-thirds of respondents saying their organisation will seek greater standardization of tools and processes in 2017. Although subsea processing is a target area for innovation, operational experience has also grown in recent years, with significant developments made by, among others, Total, Petrobras, Shell and Statoil. However, the lack of standardisation which is driving costs up is still seen to make subsea processing less competitive than alternative solutions.
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Kristin Nergaard Berg, JIP project manager, DNV GL – Oil & Gas, says: “Subsea standardisation offers tremendous benefits. It allows flexibility for tailor-made facilities at a system level through standard functional descriptions and specifications, while also increasing
UT3 Issue 3 June July 2017
predictability in the value chain. This will not only lower transaction costs and accelerate implementation for all parties, but also allow freedom to innovate and employ new technology.” The kick-off for Phase 2 of the Subsea Processing JIP was recently held at DNV GL’s headquarters at Høvik, Norway. The JIP includes
system suppliers Aker Solutions, GE Oil & Gas, OneSubsea and TechnipFMC and operators Shell, Statoil and Woodside. Phase 2 is expected to lead to a guideline and eventually a recommended practice for subsea pumping systems. Building on the concluded functional
says: “Through innovation and collaboration, Woodside aims to deliver outstanding performance of our subsea and pipeline systems throughout the entire lifecycle. "The standardisation of subsea processing JIP and its initial focus on subsea pumping hits the mark with standardized guidelines being developed for subsea processing modules and interfaces that are efficient, reliable and readily installed and serviced. "We use subsea boosting in our subsea production systems and know that these are important lifecycle cost drivers.” Kjell Eriksson, Regional Manager Norway, DNV GL – Oil & Gas, says: “Like more conventional solutions, subsea processing must prove to be cost efficient to be considered attractive. At the same time, subsea processing will be an enabler for increased oil recovery. Through collaboration with the big players in the subsea industry, this JIP drives subsea processing towards being a competitive and viable solution for a wide range of future oil and gas fields.” description from Phase 1, the JIP will continue by developing system level requirements and design classes, as well as harmonised work processes and design standards. Phase 2 activities are related to: l Standards, functional requirements and specifications l System design l Pump modules and pressure-
containing equipment l Control system and instrumentation l Power system l Materials and welding l Qualification work processes and test requirements. Morgan Harland, General Manager, Subsea & Pipelines, Woodside,
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Liza EPCI Saipem has been awarded a new EPCI contract for the SURF package of the proposed Liza project operated by ExxonMobil. Located approximately 120 miles offshore Guyana at a water depth of 1800m, the Liza field is a subsea development with a recoverable resource estimate of over 1 billion oil-equivalent barrels. Saipem will perform engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of the risers, flow lines, and associated structures and jumpers. The award also includes transportation and installation of umbilicals, manifolds, and associated foundations for the production, and water and gas injection systems.
NEWS Jangkrik Eni has started gas production from the Jangkrik Development Project, in deep water offshore Indonesia, ahead of schedule. The Project comprises the gas fields Jangkrik and Jangkrik North East, located in the Muara Bakau block, Kutei basin, in the deep water of Makassar Strait.
Saipem will deploy its flagship vessels FDS2 and the Normand Maximus to execute the works which will commence in 2019. Saipem has also acquired new contracts and change orders of contracts currently underway in the North Sea and West Africa. The new acquisitions worth a total of US$500 million.
Jangkrik Development Project
Normand Maximus
TechnipFMC EPCI TechnipFMC has been awarded an extension to its ongoing Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract from Statoil in the Norwegian North Sea.
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The ongoing EPC project covers the provision of subsea equipment including template structure, manifold and two subsea trees including wellheads and modifications of control systems to the Visund Nord IOR project, whereas the extension includes installation of the template structure and manifold as well as delivery and installation of flowline spool and umbilical. The project will be executed as an integrated Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (iEPCI).
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Production from ten deep-water subsea wells, connected to the newly built Floating Production Unit (FPU) Jangkrik, will gradually reach 450 million standard ft3 per day (mmscf/d), equivalent to 83 000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed). The gas, once processed onboard the FPU, will flow via a dedicated 79km pipeline to the Onshore Receiving Facility, both built by Eni, and then through the East Kalimantan Transportation System, finally reaching the Bontang gas liquefaction plant. Gas volumes from Jangkrik will supply the local domestic market as well as the LNG export market, providing a significant contribution to Indonesia’s current energy requirements and future economic development. Production start-up within three and a half years from the sanctioning of the project is further confirming Eni's capabilities in fast-track developments. It is a benchmarking record in the industry and a major step forward for Eni's activities in Indonesia. The field provides the opportunity for the Jangkrik Floating Production Unit to become a hub for the development of our nearby gas discovery Merakes which could start production within the next two years.
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Peregrino II Jacket
BP Statistical Review
Heerema Fabrication Group has been awarded the procurement and construction contract of the Peregrino II Jacket by South Atlantic Holding on behalf of the Statoil Peregrino II project.
The 2017 edition of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy shows global energy markets continuing to undergo long-term changes as they also adapt to nearer-term price challenges.
The Peregrino jacket will be approximately 135m tall, have a footprint of 66 x 53m and will weigh 9300t (excluding the 12 piles). Construction is due to start in November 2017 at the Heerema yard in Vlissingen.
At the same time, energy markets are adjusting effectively to nearerterm challenges, with the oil market in particular adjusting in 2016 to the oversupply that has dominated the market in recent years.
In 2016 global energy demand was weak for the third consecutive year, growing by just 1%, around half the average growth rate of the past decade. Once again, almost all this growth came from fast-growing developing economies, with China and India together accounting for half of all growth.
Introducing the Review, Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive, said: “Global energy markets are in transition. The longer-term trends we can see in this data are changing the patterns of demand and the mix of supply as the world works to meet the challenge of supplying the energy it needs while also reducing carbon emissions. At the same time markets are responding to shorter-
The year’s low prices drove demand for oil higher by 1.6% while growth in production was limited to only 0.5%. As a result, the oil market returned broadly back into balance by mid-year, but prices continued to be depressed by the large overhang of built-up inventories. Natural gas production was also adversely affected by low prices, growing by only 0.3%.
Thee jacket will support a 25 000t topsides including the drilling and process facilities, utilities, power generation, living quarters and a heli-deck. The jacket is also designed for storage of fresh drill water with caissons for submerged pumps connected to such storage tanks. The water depth is approximately 120m.
run run factors, most notably the oversupply that has weighed on oil prices for the past three years.
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UT3 Issue 3 June July 2017
Quad 204 Quad 204 Project Onstream BP has announced first oil from the redeveloped Schiehallion Area, following completion of the multi-billion-pound Quad 204 project in the west of Shetland region, offshore UK. Schiehallion and the adjacent Loyal fields were first developed in the mid1990s and have produced nearly 400 million barrels of oil since production started in 1998. With the fields’ redevelopment through the Quad 204 project, BP and co-venturers expect to unlock a further estimated 450 million barrels of resources, extending the life of the fields out to 2035 and beyond. Production from the project is expected to ramp up through the remainder of 2017 to a plateau level of 130,000 barrels of oil per day.
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Subsea Scope As part of Quad 204, the subsea system has been significantly modernised to increase capacity, improve availability and extend field life beyond 2035. The subsea scope included: • Disconnection and recovery of 96 items, and the installation of over 292 new assembled components with a total weight of approximately 40,000 tonnes. This work was performed across and between five different drill centres and the FPSO location. • The subsea oil production system has been mostly replaced except for the re-use of existing production manifolds and some production jumpers. Three new production manifolds have been added and flowlines and riser numbers increased from ten to 15, adding 50% more capacity and far greater recovery from wells. • The existing subsea water injection system has been upgraded with two new manifolds and drill centres re-configured to allow the tie-in of new water injection wells, targeting specific areas of the reservoir. Water injection is critical to maximise oil recovery by sweeping the reservoir and maintaining pressure • The gas lift system - essential for lifting low pressure and high water cut wells - has been upgraded to run at higher flow rates to service an increased number of production wells. • The obsolete subsea control system has been replaced with a new state-of the-art system, providing high reliability and a diagnostics capability back to the Glen Lyon FPSO, avoiding the need for an intervention vessel. • Replacement subsea Xmas Trees have been installed on four wells to extend their life and increase recovery of reserves. • Several other upgrades and replacements has been performed to provide long-term integrity, asset protection and deliver an Quad 204 Riser base inherently safer subsea system to operate.
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Quad 204
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Glen Lyon • Schiehallion and Loyal production was suspended at the start on 2013. • A new FPSO, the Glen Lyon, was constructed at the Hyundai Heavy Industries Shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea. The build took four years and 21 million hours. • A 14,700 mile, 110-day journey took the FPSO from South Korea to Norway for its final port call. • Final preparations were completed during a 42-day programme, before a short tow to the field west of Shetland. • The new vessel arrived in field on 3 June 2016 and was fully moored 11 days later. Located 175km west of Shetland. • Sits in water depths of approximately 1,300 feet. • Measures 270 metres long by 52 metres wide, and weights around 100,000 tonnes • Accommodates up to 140 people for normal operations (with a maximum of 168 possible) • Anchored to the seabed via a turret mooring system. • With some 20 mooring lines, each a mix of chain and wire sections measuring almost a mile (1.5km in length), the entire mooring system weighs 12,000 tonnes • The turret allows 360-degree rotation of the FPSO with the FPSO normally positioned head to the204 prevailing Quad Glen Lyon environment.
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• Capable of processing and exporting up to 130,000 barrels of oil a day and storing up to 800,000 barrels oil. July 2017 UT3 Issue 3 of June
Quad 204 Quad 204 Project Onstream contd. BP is planning to double its UK North Sea production to 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d) by 2020 and sustain a material business in the region for several decades. Production from the new Clair Ridge major project is expected next year. Over the next 18 months, BP plans to participate in up to five exploration wells in the UK, in
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addition to drilling approximately 50 development wells over the next 3-4 years. Quad 204 is the third of seven Upstream major projects BP expects to bring online in 2017, following the earlier start-ups of the Trinidad onshore compression project and the Taurus/Libra development of the West Nile Delta project in Egypt.
New projects starting up through 2016 and 2017 are expected to deliver 500,000 boe/d net new production capacity for BP by the end of this year. With further projects beginning production through to the end of the decade, BP expects approximately 800,000 boe/d production from new projects by 2020.
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NEWS McDermott Awarded Angelin EPCIC Contract McDermott International has been awarded an engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) contract from BP Trinidad & Tobago, LLC (bpTT) for the Angelin gas field, located 25 miles (40km) off the east coast of Trinidad and Tobago. This EPCIC contract follows the successful completion of a multi-phase engineering contract, including pre-front end engineering design (pre-FEED), front-end engineering design (FEED), and pre-execution engineering contracts previously awarded by bpTT to McDermott for the initial design and execution planning of Angelin. McDermott’s team in Houston led the engineering and execution planning efforts with support and work share from the Company’s engineering centre in Chennai, India. Building off its pre-FEED and FEED work, McDermott will provide a turnkey EPCIC solution to design, procure, fabricate, transport, install and commission a six-slot wellhead platform and 26in (66 cm) subsea pipeline using its project management and engineering team in Houston. The 992t four-legged main pile jacket and 1,323-ton (1,200 metric ton) four-deck topside for the Angelin project will be constructed at the Altamira, Mexico fabrication facility. The platform and pipeline are scheduled to be installed by McDermott’s DLV 2000.
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The Angelin project is a dry gas development within the northern Columbus Basin in 213 feet (65m) of water. The gas will be exported to the Beachfield/Atlantic LNG and the liquids to the Galeota terminal via a new 13 mile export pipeline. With a design throughput of 600 million ft3 gas per day, production will be exported through the pipeline to the Serrette Facility and on to the nearby Cassia platform for processing.
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Angelin topsides
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3D Printed Ship’s Propeller Marking a major step forward in the application of 3D printing techniques in the maritime sector, Damen Shipyards Group has entered a cooperative consortium with RAMLAB, Promarin, Autodesk and Bureau Veritas. The goal of this group of forward-looking companies is to develop the world’s first class approved 3D printed ship’s propeller, to be called the WAAMpeller. Damen’s involvement in the project began just over a year ago as a result of one of its in-house student research programmes. “Three students from Delft Technical University were investigating the potential of 3D printing for us. They brought us into contact with the other members of the consortium,” explains Kees Custers, Project Engineer in Damen’s Research & Development department. “What is quite unique about this group of five companies is that, while we have joint interests, we also have individual aims. This leads to a very productive and cooperative atmosphere in what is a very exciting project.” The propeller will be based on a Promarin design that is typically found on a Damen Stan Tug 1606. This 1,300mm diameter propeller weighs approximately 180kg. The first propeller is expected to be printed by summer 2017, with subsequent testing occurring in the autumn.
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NEWS Bibby Offshore Bibby Offshore has been awarded a contract with TAQA for subsea construction works in the Eider field, located 184km north-east of Shetland. Bibby will adopt a multi-vessel approach, utilising its subsea support and construction vessel Olympic Ares, and its diving support vessel, Bibby Polaris. The project comprises the connection of the existing Otter Production pipeline to the existing Eider Oil Export pipeline, and connection of the existing Tern-Eider water injection pipeline to the existing Otter water injection pipeline using subsea bypass spools.
Bibby Offshore will provide spool piece metrology, barrier testing, removal of existing production and water injection spools and precommissioning support.
Bibby Polaris
Fugro Venturer Survey Fugro Venturer, the newest of Fugro’s purpose-designed, standardised survey vessels has begun its a maiden voyage. The programme takes her to the deep waters of Ireland’s Atlantic margin and the far North of the Barents Sea . Fugro has secured a work backlog so that a campaign of site and pipeline route surveys, for clients including Aker BP, following commissioning and survey trials. Fugro Venturer is contracted to conduct simultaneous analogue/digital surveys, 3D high resolution seismic and environmental sampling and shallow geotechnical operations. An increased level of weather tolerance will ensure a highly reliable operational programme.
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News Cheviot
West Nile BP has started gas production from the first two fields, Taurus and Libra, of the West Nile Delta development in Egypt. The project was delivered eight months ahead of start-up schedule and under budget. First gas was exported to Egypt’s national grid on 24 March 2017 and the commissioning of all nine wells of the development’s first two fields and ramp up to stable operations has now been completed.
Alpha Petroleum has announced an agreement with GE Oil & Gas to partner on the advancement of the subsea infrastructure for the Cheviot oil field, one of the largest undeveloped fields in the UK North Sea with 55 mmbbls of oil and 20 mmboe of future gas production. Alpha Petroleum has named GE Oil & Gas as the exclusive supplier of early engineering, project management, and procurement activities for the project. GE Oil & Gas of subsea trees, a full control system, three manifolds, flexible jumpers, flowlines, risers and umbilicals. GE Oil & Gas will also provide subsea construction and installation services, and support commissioning. For more than 12 months, Alpha Petroleum, Petroleum Equity and GE have collaborated closely, co-creating from project inception the scope of delivery and equipment specifications required to meet Alpha Petroleum’s performance objectives.
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The Cheviot field is 100 per cent owned by Alpha Petroleum and its core development will consist of 18 firm and 5 contingent wells. Alpha Petroleum recently announced an exclusivity agreement with Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. on the project for use of its Varg Floating Production Storage Offloading unit as well as FEED capabilities to the project. First oil is expected in 2019 at an expected rate of at least 30,000 barrels per day.
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The West Nile Delta development, which includes five gas fields across the North Alexandria and West Mediterranean Deepwater offshore concession blocks, is being developed as two separate projects to enable BP and its partners to accelerate gas production commitments to Egypt. When fully onstream in 2019, combined production from both projects is expected to reach up to almost 1.5 billion cubic feet a day (bcf/d), equivalent to about 30 per cent of Egypt’s current gas production. All the gas produced will be fed into the national gas grid. Following final approval in 2015, development of the first project,
ABB involving the Taurus and Libra fields, was fast-tracked to enable delivery of an annual average of more than 600 million standard cubic feet of gas a day (mmscf/d) to the Egyptian national gas grid. The fields are currently producing more than 700mmscf/d sales gas and 1000 barrels per day (bbls/d) condensate which is 20% higher than the planned sales gas plateau.
The Taurus and Libra project is a subsea greenfield development including nine wells (six in Taurus and three in Libra) and a 42 kilometre tie back to the existing onshore processing facility where gas enters the Egyptian national gas grid via a nearby export pipeline. This is the second of seven major upstream projects that BP expects to come into production during 2017. Together with the projects that began production in 2016, these new start-ups are expected to provide BP with 500,000 barrels equivalent a day (boe/d) of new production capacity by the end of this year. With further new projects starting up beyond this, by the end of the decade BP’s new projects are expected to have added 800,000 boe/d of new production.
The Research Council of Norway has awarded ABB a NOK 10 million research grant to develop subsea technology for use on the Norwegian continental shelf and the Barents Sea. This is the third award for ABB as part of the Council’s DEMO2000 initiative. Previous funding rounds, both in 2016, totalled NOK 20 million. ABB is currently engaged in a five-year joint industry program (JIP), which commenced in 2013, to develop pressure-compensated electrical and control equipment as part of a drive to move oil production systems from surface platforms to the sea bed. DEMO2000 promotes the longterm competitiveness of the Norwegian oil and gas industry by helping companies, their suppliers and research institutes to collaborate with the development and testing of prototypes, before moving to the offshore installation of production models.
The Research Council of Norway has allocated NOK 85 million in support of oil and gas research, with 13 projects receiving funding. ABB subsea power substation on the seabed The company has also entered into the JIP with a number of leading oil companies. The aim is to advance Statoil’s vision for an autonomous subsea “factory” that can be powered and controlled from shore. The program aims to develop equipment that can transmit electrical power up to 100 MW, delivered over a distance of 600 km, and which can operate at a water depth of 3 km for 30 years with little or no maintenance. ABB has moved from laboratory testing of physical principles to manufacturing sub-assemblies and prototypes. The first installation of the subsea power products in the real offshore production site is expected to begin in 2020.
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Pipelay M2 Subsea First Contract Award M² Subsea, the global independent provider of ROV services, has secured its first contract award which is valued in excess of one million pounds. The project will see the firm supplying the Go Electra vessel, ROVs and personnel to support survey work on the world’s longest subsea pipeline system. The company, which has bases in Aberdeen and Houston, has been sub-contracted by Next Geosolutions, an independent geoscience and engineering service provider, to deliver the campaign in the Baltic Sea for the Nord Stream 2 project. Next Geosolutions was appointed to carry out unexploded ordnance identification (UXO) surveys on the two new pipelines. The campaign for Nord Stream 2, an extension of the world’s longest pipeline, will be undertaken in an area noted for munitions discoveries following the end of World War II. To support the 90-day project on the Nord Stream 2, M² Subsea has signed its first charter agreement for the multipurpose support vessel (MSV) Go Electra, which recently successfully completed its first five-year class inspection. The scope of work will be project managed from Aberdeen and will see the MSV deployed from Hanko in Finland, and supported by 15 of M² Subsea’s personnel who will carry out the UXO identification work utilizing a Triton XLX 2 Work Class ROV and a Mohican 5 observation/inspection class ROV from the firm’s fleet of 28 assets. M² Subsea chief executive officer Mike Arnold said: “This contract award from Next Geosolutions is great for the business and a significant scope of work for us to win. It highlights both our personnel and asset capabilities to negotiate what is a very challenging subsea environment.
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The Nord Stream twin offshore pipeline system runs from Russia to Germany and measures 1,244km in length.
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Subsea Mining This summer, the NPD will continue to acquire geological samples and deep-sea minerals in the Norwegian Sea. The objective is to increase understanding of resources and the geological development of the North Atlantic. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has dedicated resources to acquire seabed samples from the Vøring Spur in the summer of 2016. The project, which will be carried out by the University of Bergen (UiB), builds on a similar collaboration from 2010 to 2015. Bathymetric data was collected by the NPD over Jan Mayen in 2010 (bathymetry is equivalent to topography, but describes conditions under water). Based on this, seabed material was collected using an ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle) in this sea area in 2011 and 2012. Several successful ROV dives were carried out in 2013, but now at the Gjallar Ridge South and the Vøring Spur in the Norwegian Sea. Among other things, material was collected at a depth of 3600 metres at the Vøring Spur. In 2014, the NPD acquired shallow drill cores in the outer parts of the Møre Basin.
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All of the samples have been collected as part of the exploration for reservoir rocks on the Jan Mayen Ridge, and the outermost parts of the continental shelf in the Norwegian
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Sea. Norway, Jan Mayen and Greenland were previously connected in the same continent. About 60 million years ago, this continent split when the North Atlantic began to open up, and Norway and Greenland (together with the Jan Mayen Ridge) parted. Therefore, one would expect to find the same reservoir rocks in the Jan Mayen Ridge and outer parts of the Norwegian shelf that we currently see on land on the Greenland side from the time before and during the fracturing.
But the fracturing process itself was complicated. Finding out the details about how Greenland, the Jan Mayen Ridge and the Norwegian shelf were once all connected is quite a puzzle. Samples are being acquired to secure data points that can help solve this puzzle in the search for the types of reservoir rocks we see on Greenland. The acquired samples have also provided very significant knowledge about metallic seabed minerals on the Norwegian shelf, an aspect that
Figure 1. Map showing the locations of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s sampling of bedrock on the seabed. The yellow stars show the locations for the sampling on the Jan Mayen Ridge with grab samples (2011) and chainsaw (2012). The blue star shows where shallow wells were drilled in 2014. The white stars show where samples were taken on the Gjallar Ridge and the Vøring Spur in 2013. Samples will also be taken here this year. The content of these metals varies around the world, and they are currently attracting considerable international interest. Figure 2 shows one of the NPD's sampling locations on the Vøring Spur where a manganese crust has grown on the sheer rock face.
the NPD will pursue in the ongoing investigations. In addition to pure rock samples, samples of the manganese crust were also taken, both on the Jan Mayen Ridge and on the Vøring Spur. This is a coating of metallic minerals that are precipitated from the seawater on bare rock on the seabed. Such crusts are mainly composed of manganese and iron minerals, while other and far more valuable metals are also present, such as cobalt, nickel, titanium, platinum, scandium (used e.g. in aluminium alloys) as well as rare types of soil.
UiB is in the process of completing a detailed geochemical study of the NPD's crust samples from the Jan Mayen Ridge. This will tell us which metals could be interesting resources in this area. The NPD and UiB will follow up with further studies of such manganese crusts. The NPD has also made its bathymetric data available for studies of the Mohns Ridge. This is the mid-oceanic spreading ridge which is situated from Jan Mayen to Bjørnøya. Such spreading ridges are volcanic and produce metallic sulphide minerals through so-called "black smokers". These deposits are now also the focus of worldwide financial interest. The most interesting metals in this context are copper, lead, zinc, gold and silver.
UiB has performed scientific surveys on the Mohns Ridge for several years, investigating the geological and biological processes in these volcanic systems. These surveys also form the foundation for the current knowledge about the metal resources that are located here. UiB and the NPD have generally mobilised their research and acquisition missions together in all parts of the Norwegian Sea. The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) will conduct its first mission this year to examine sulphide minerals on the Mohns Ridge, with a basis in the NPD’s bathymetric data and UiB’s numerous surveys throughout the years. This activity will largely be financed by the Research Council of Norway. During UiB's mission, the NPD will perform further investigations of the Vøring Spur. Based on experience from previous missions, we expect to find basalt, rocks with thick manganese crusts, as well as pure sediment samples. The material will help increase the authorities’ understanding of the resources in the Norwegian Sea and the geological development of the North Atlantic. The metallic components that can be found in manganese crusts could become an important deep sea resource. In this year’s acquisition, the NPD will achieve a better foundation for conducting further mapping of the metal occurrences with regard to scope, quality and resource estimation.
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Cables Custom Cables for Reliable Subsea Monitoring Oceanteam Solutions has been awarded a long-term contract to supply port facilities, loadouts and storage of cables at Oceanteam’s own cable storage facility in Velsen Noord, The Netherlands.
Oceanteam facilities
Oceanteam will also accommodate a professional cable handling crew, engineering services and equipment for the complete project. For this new long-term storage project, Oceanteam delivers two demountable carousels of which one will be upgraded and customised from 4000t to 5300t, according to the client’s cable specifications. Spooling operations will start later this month and will be performed by our experienced cable handling crew. The cable storage facility is situated immediately behind the North Sea locks of IJmuiden, in the direct proximity of Amsterdam.
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The harbour is only 1.5 NM inward from sea and berths are safe and free of tidal movement. Another major benefit of the area is the easy accessibility for all modalities, such as good shipping possibilities to the inlands of Europe. Cable storage units (static tanks, turntables, cable baskets, reels) can be placed at every desired position and in every size.
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IOX Cable System A new submarine cable system, IOX Cable System, spanning more than 8850 km, will enhance communications capabilities along the India to South Africa route, providing the first open cable in Mauritius and connecting for the first time the island of Rodrigues. IOX Cable – a Mauritius-based company – and Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), part of Nokia, have signed a turnkey agreement for the deployment of the IOX Cable System, which will increase the availability of ultra-high speed broadband services, and reinforce Mauritius as a communication hub in sub-Saharian Africa. The IOX Cable System will stretch from Mauritius to Rodrigues, to the east coast of South Africa and then on to the east coast of India. Providing an ultimate design capacity of over 13 terabits-per second per fiber pair, the system will allow easy connectivity to current and future undersea cables on the east and west coast of
Africa, delivering a gateway to the continent and a new alternate route between Asia and Africa. The system’s deployment will support ultra-fast data transmission to address the growth of digital communications and cloud computing requirements, enabling IOX to offer differentiated services, while strengthening service, reliability and redundancy to existing cables. The IOX Cable System will integrate ASN’s latest innovations in subsea communications, including the 1620 SOFTNODE and ROADM branching unit offering dynamic features for enhanced system resilience as well as utilizing ASN’s highly reliable submarine repeaters, all managed by its end-to-end submarine network management system. As part of the contract, ASN will also be in charge of project management, system design, marine operations and system commissioning supported by IOX’s own team of industry experienced personnel.
Custom cables for reliable subsea monitoring
Cable monitoring Novacavi has recently released its P_22SSA ruggedized custom cable to support reliable and secure monitoring activity of marine environment.
Cable Protection
Seaproof Solutions has been recently awarded a contract by This electro-optical-mechanical custom Jan De Nul to supply its Export Cable protection Systems for cable enriches our extremely diverse Offshore Wind Farms Borkum production range of subsea armoured cable for detection and instrumentation Riffgrund 2 and Trianel Windpark Borkum 2nd construction phase. in defence and environmental monitoring applications. The contract covers the design and supply of the Export Cable Key advantages of this armoured halogen free low smoke cable are high Protection Systems connecting the Borkum Riffgrund 2 wind farm working load performance, protection to the DolWin gamma platform; against electromagnetic interference, and the Trianel Windpark Borkum compactness and versatility. 2nd construction phase wind farm to the DolWin alpha platform. Knowledge of latest materials technology, experience in configuring CPS are taking into account all custom cable specification and pertinent cable data, physical flexibility in manufacturing from short interface to the foundations and prototype to exact scale program environmental parameters, whilst production are all combined together guaranteeing a minimum design to deliver our unique high performant life of 30 years. cable solutions.
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Umbilicals Dual Tensioner System Aquatic has been selected to provide tensioning capabilities to DeepOcean on behalf of Subsea 7 for the Pharaonic /PHPC Atoll Main umbilical installation project in Egypt. Aquatic will provide its Dual Tensioner System solution to tension the umbilical during installation. The 112km umbilical will be installed at a water depth of 923m, extending to a beach tie-in at the West Harbour Terminal, near Port Said, Egypt. Mobilization is scheduled for August 2017 from Blyth Northumberland, with an anticipated project duration of 70 days. The tensioning system will be installed aboard DeepOcean’s Maersk Connector vessel. The tensioners will be integrated to allow them to be operated in synchronisation with existing deck equipment, including the vessel carousel.
The tensioner control cabin will be linked to the existing vessel carousel control room to allow all the equipment to be controlled and monitored from a single location by Aquatic personnel. The dual tensioner solution connects two 50Te tensioners together in series to ensure sufficient track length to the umbilical l As a follow-up to their recently signed frame agreement, Aquatic has been contracted by Ocean Installer to provide a powered reel system solution to be used on Ocean Installer’s vessel Normand Vision. Aquatic will provide their 400Te drive system. The tower driven system is capable of driving Coflexip, NKT and Wellstream installation reels. The system will be used with its own power pack and track systems also provided by Aquatic. The complete system allows parallel sets of reels to be installed along the longitudinal length of the vessel.
Powered reel system
Multi-Reel Drive System Sparrows have deployed INNOVO’s new electric drive 700t multi-reel drive system for the first time. Sparrows was hired by a global energy services provider to deliver the system and personnel for an umbilical laying operation off the coast of Trinidad. The 700t reel drive system is the largest capacity in the rental market and the electric drive provides better control for offshore operations, in this instance allowing the umbilical to be laid directly from the system therefore reducing the deck space required. The work saw the collaborative team commission and test the 700 Te reel drive system at Sparrows’ facility in Aberdeen before the modular unit was shipped to Trinidad.
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multi-reel drive system
NKT Victoria The new NKT cablelaying vessel has been named NKT Victoria
The new NKT cable-laying vessel has been named NKT Victoria at a ceremony at the power cable plant in Karlskrona, Sweden. The act was carried out by the regional Governor of Blekinge and marks the starting point of a new era of NKT turnkey high-voltage offshore cable system capabilities.
These, and many more cuttingedge features, contribute to higher efficiency and precision of the installation and service execution, while offering maximum safety for the crew. In addition, NKT Victoria uses a power-from-shore solution together with onboard energy storage systems.
The cable-laying vessel is amongst the world’s most advanced and its design is based on extensive experience with offshore installations. NKT Victoria lays high-voltage offshore cables with high precision based on eg, DP3 (Dynamic Positioning) capability and a remotely operated vehicle using cameras and sonar. If not incorporated in the power cable itself, fiber optic cables for monitoring purposes can be placed simultaneously.
This reduces fuel and CO2 consumption significantly compared with other cable-laying vessels available in the market. The power-from-shore connection can be maintained while loading the cable onto the vessel – a unique advantage which results in a more environmental-friendly operation. NKT Victoria completes the NKT turnkey solutions offering With the vessel, NKT completes its
high-voltage AC/DC power cable system offering to include planning, design, manufacturing, installation and related cable-laying services. The offering is called CIS turnkey; Cable system, Installation and Service, and allows for customers to have one partner throughout the lifetime of a cable system to increase project flexibility and lower execution risks and costs. “With this cable-laying vessel we are now among the very few AC/DC high-voltage offshore cable system providers to deliver complete turnkey solutions. We are well-positioned to continue taking an active part in the growing global market for offshore wind projects and further build on our reputation as a trusted partner in this industry.”
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Basket Carousel Loading Tower Swan Hunter has completed the fabrication of the Basket Carousel Loading Tower. The equipment completed factory acceptance testing, was assembled in The Netherlands. It was installed onto EMAS Chiyoda Subsea’s multi-lay vessel Lewek Constellation for flexible risers installation. The lay equipment comprises Swan Hunter’s new-build loading tower complete with a newbuild 10t tensioner, , a 26m basket carousel provided by a joint venture partner plus various project-specific components.
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It is supplemented with additional project specific components including an under bender chute and height extension sections. The system is capable of handling flexible products up to 550mm outer diameter.
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Cables Cable protection on Arkona Tekmar has been awarded a contract by VBMS to supply 130 of its patented TekLink cable protection system units for E.On’s/Statoil’s 385MW Arkona Offshore Wind Farm project in the German Baltic Sea. The cable protection systems, along with j-tube bellmouths for the Electrical Offshore Substation will be manufactured in Tekmar’s new state of the art production facility in the North East of England. Manufacturing is expected to be completed in late 2017 ready for offshore installation in 2018. Arkona marks the 15th Offshore Wind array cable project Tekmar and VBMS have worked on together. As of May 2017 Tekmar reached a track record of 52 Offshore Windfarm projects representing over 5,800 systems supplied into the industry across three different continents, truly marking their position as the market leaders in the field. This news comes after Tekmar were also recently awarded contracts in 2017 to supply the Blyth and Aberdeen Offshore Windfarms in Europe, as well as the 400MW Binhai Phase 2 project in China.
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Cables
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VBMS awarded inter-array cabling contract for Albatros OWF VBMS, has been awarded an inter-array cabling contract by EnBW Albatros GmbH for the 112MW Albatros Offshore Wind Farm. The contract includes the supply, installation and burial as well as termination and testing of nineteen 33kV inter-array cables. The cable installation activities are scheduled for 2019, following the installation of seventy nine inter-array cables for the nearby 497MW EnBW Hohe See offshore wind farm. Part of the Albatros scope for VBMS is to interconnect both wind farms.
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Equipment Cable Recovery Pharos Offshore Group have paired their trenching and deburial systems with a rugged cable retrieval grab to aid the offshore industry with a simple to use and quick to mobilise solution for recovering damaged subsea products and out of service cables. Two of the company’s Cable Recovery Spreads were sent out this month to work on the recovery of 1x Array Cable within an Offshore Wind Farm situated in the Irish Sea, and the recovery of a section of an interconnector off the coast of Iceland. The company felt that the cable industry could benefit from a simple solution to resolve common issues and supply clients with a varying amount if equipment depending on requirements, more importantly the company were driven to reduce the amount of downtime for the client by providing a fast and efficient service. The Subsea Cable Recovery tooling is offered as part of a menu of equipment so that clients could tailor their own package. Typical items include: l Mass Flow Excavator or Jet-Trenching ROV for the deburial and subsequent reburial of the product; l The cable grab spread (configured for crane launch or as a ROV configured unit); l An independent camera and lighting system on the cable grab itself to monitor the recovery; l Proximity sensors, gyros and imaging sonars; The personnel to mobilise; operate and demobilise the varying levels of kit chosen.
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The track record for these spreads has covered 2 x Interconnectors, 3 x Array Cables and 1 x Export Cable. Upcoming projects may include flowlines, flexible pipe and (with the addition of a new-build grab) sections of pipeline; as the company continue to explore new options across the offshore markets.
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Cable retrieval grab
Underwater Centre Skills Development Scotland has awarded The Underwater Centre in Fort William funding to help ensure that Scotland is ready to supply the qualified workforce that the subsea industry will need in the future. There is growing concern that the subsea industry could face major skills shortages in coming years. The downturn in the oil and gas industry has led to a reduction in training, both by individuals and companies. Without ongoing investment in training, skills will be lost to the industry as older workers retire without the skilled workforce to replace them. The Scottish Government is taking action to support subsea training now so that the country’s workforce is ready to respond to positive market conditions when the oil price begins to recover, as well as being prepared for opportunities in decommissioning and the offshore renewables sector. Starting in June 2017, Scottish residents will be able to get high-quality, industry-relevant closed bell and ROV training at The Underwater Centre for 50% of the usual cost. The other half of the fees will be paid by Skills Development Scotland. With industry needs in mind, the financial support is targeted towards the specific areas where there are likely to be shortages. The support is not seeking to bring new people into the offshore industry but is aiming to increase the capability of the people already in the sector.
Standardised Buoyancy Module System Trelleborg’s offshore operation recently developed a new Standardized Buoyancy Module system to reduce lead times for customers. It offers a viable alternative to custom options for some projects. The Standardized Buoyancy Module is made up of small elements that stack together to increase the overall uplift of the complete distributed buoyancy module. The buoyancy segments are designed to mechanically lock around the clamp to securely attach the assembly to the desired location on the riser. Jonathan Fox, Senior Product Development Engineer with Trelleborg’s offshore operation, states: “We recognised a requirement to deliver buoyancy products in less time for projects with short lead times.
needed to achieve an approved product design.” The Standardized Buoyancy Module system can be adjusted to operate in seawater depths from surface to 2,500 meters by adding or removing elements based on customer specifications. The new ‘off the shelf’ option reduces lead times and costs for customers looking for quality buoyancy with a quick delivery. For complex projects with undetermined volumes and up thrusts, custom engineered buoyancy modules are recommended to ensure performance
Standardised Buoyancy Module
Through our customized innovation process, we were able to qualify and standardize a buoyancy module for subsea or surface applications that can be delivered in around half the time of a typical buoyancy module. In addition, we were able to ease handling of the buoyancy modules by incorporating synthetic rubber feet to the bottom of the finished assembly to prevent handling damage and reduce assembly time. “Because the product consists of known volumes and up thrusts, we are putting the upfront engineering into the hands of our customers, reducing the time
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Equipment
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Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger Jan De Nul Group signed a contract with Keppel Singmarine Pte.Ltd. for the construction of a 6,000 m3 Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger (‘TSHD’), bringing the current newbuilding order at the shipyard to four hoppers. An option for a fifth hopper dredger has been provided in the contract. The vessel is in diesel-electric execution, allowing optimal use of the generated power and lowering fuel oil consumption and emissions. In addition, an exhaust gas treatment system is installed, and pollutant emissions will comply with the future EU Stage V regulations for inland waterway vessels. The system is similar to the one installed on the three 3,500 m3 TSHDs ordered in July of last year and currently being constructed by Keppel Singmarine.
Main characteristics
Hopper capacity Deadweight Length o.a. Breadth Maximum dredging depth Diameter suction pipe Speed Pump power (trailing) Pump power (discharging) Total installed diesel power
6,000 m³ 9,880 ton 111.7 m 24.6 m 35.0 m 1,000 mm 12.5 kn 1,500 kW 4,000 kW 7,700 kW
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Survey Underwater Laser Mapping 2G Robotics and Sonardyne have entered into a formal collaboration agreement. The two organisations are working together on the development and promotion of a dynamic underwater laser mapping solution which significantly reduces the time needed to survey seafloor sites and offshore structures. The new agreement centres on the integration of Sonardyne’s acoustically-aided inertial navigation system for underwater vehicles, SPRINT-Mapper, with 2G Robotics’ ULS-500 PRO dynamic underwater laser scanner. Projects conducted over the past six months have shown that combining the high resolution afforded by the 2G Robotics’ laser scanner, with an unprecedented level of practical positioning accuracy, produces a complete solution for fast and efficient dynamic laser scanning projects. These include archaeological surveys, pipeline and free span inspections, structural integrity monitoring and one of the most demanding of all survey tasks, pipeline metrology. Until now, attempts at mapping from dynamic platforms have largely involved multi-beam imaging sonars being fitted to ROVs, AUVs and manned submersibles equipped with inertial, Doppler, acoustic positioning and depth instrumentation. As a result of their mobility, large areas can be quickly surveyed but this approach typically only achieves up to 10 cm relative accuracy - effectively ruling out applications like metrology which require centimetre or better accuracy.
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The new technique uses the 2G Robotics ULS-500 PRO laser scanner fitted to an underwater vehicle to capture high density point clouds of subsea assets and environments. As the vehicle moves around the site, the SPRINT-Mapper hardware, also fitted to the vehicle, simultaneously collects raw acoustic and inertial navigation data. On completion of the survey, the raw navigational data is post-processed and merged with the laser data to produce a georeferenced 3D point cloud from which centimetric level or better engineering measurements can be taken.
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In June 2017, the SUT held an evening technical meeting on the Innovative Field Development, Pragmatic Riser Analysis and Connecting with Moorings. The allfemale presentations were chaired by Allison Selman, coordinator of Women in Subsea Engineering (WISE).
WOMEN IN SUBSEA ENGINEERING
SUT Evening Technical Meeting: Innovative Field Development, Pragmatic Riser Analysis and Connecting with Moorings WEDNESDAY 14 JUNE 2017 WISE is sponsoring university students to attend the SUT ETM. It will be a special evening, where students will be invited to a 30 minute career Q&A session with a panel of senior female engineers from the industry. + Learn about the subsea industry + Hear individuals’ career stories + Ask out about career pathways in the subsea industry + Network with other industry professionals + Gain an opportunity to apply for SUT Scholarships CAREER SESSION PANEL ALLISON SELMAN, ATTERIS | EMILY CARMICHAEL, DOF SUBSEA CELINE LAONELLE, ATTERIS | CAROLYN THAIN, WOODSIDE JULIE MORGAN, WOODSIDE | ELIZABETH TELLIER, 2H OFFSHORE
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HELENA FORSYTH, INPEX | MARY HACKETT, GE OIL & GAS WISE is a network of dedicated subsea professionals aimed at achieving gender parity in engineering within the subsea industry. Joining WISE is free and easy! Just join our LinkedIn Group and you are in!
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EVENT DETAILS 14 June 2016 Parmelia Hilton, Perth 5:30pm – 6:00pm Onsite Registration 6:00pm – 7:30pm
AboutTechnical the series Presentations 7:30pm – 8:00pm Career Q&A Session 8:00pm – 8:30pm Networking REGISTRATION VIA EVENTBRITE EVENT ID 34996176506
Left to Right Allison Selman Atteris/Wise; Emily Carmichael, DOF Subsea; Carolyn Thain, Woodside; Céline Lanoëlle, Atteris
Making the Australian subsea sector WISE: Increasing the visibility of female engineers and connecting people committed to achieving gender parity within the subsea sector. As a sub-group of Subsea Energy Australia (SEA), the industry association aimed at promoting Australian subsea capabilities, Women in Subsea Engineering (WISE) is a network dedicated to achieving gender parity in engineering within the subsea industry. Over the organisation’s ten-year history, SEA has had a small but strong contingent of female board members and yet the overall participation of women in networking and industry events across the subsea sector has remained comparatively low. The 2015 Committee for Perth report outlined the economic importance and strategic benefits for the retention and progression of professional women in Western Australia. It highlighted that less than 15% of engineering graduates
are female, which translates into an even lower percentage within the subsea industry. At the entry level, participation is estimated to be less than 10% and at technical leadership levels, participation is even lower. Furthermore, these participation rates are showing a declining trend. In mid-2016, SEA undertook a survey aimed at understanding the drivers for entry into the subsea industry and to identify barriers to participation. The survey revealed that the predominant motivation for joining the subsea industry is that it presents interesting, exciting and challenging work. The survey also highlighted consistent themes for women in the workplace. All the participants identified as having experienced discrimination of some kind throughout their career, many referenced the glass ceiling or suggested the effects of unconscious bias. Some had experienced either explicit or passive sexual harassment in the workplace. Women also reported a lack of opportunities for fulfilling and challenging part time work, to enable them to contribute to the industry whilst maintaining a family. Following this survey and review of the Committee for Perth’s “Filling the Pool” report, SEA established the WISE Task Group. "The drive is to encourage female high school students to study engineering at university and secondly, to encourage female university engineering students to choose a career pathway within the subsea industry and retaining female engineers in the subsea industry,” said Allison Selman, WISE Coordinator. “Statistics indicate that participation levels decrease with increasing seniority within organisations." Since the official launch of the group in December of 2016, an avid number of volunteers, supported by SEA staff, have worked to design and implement a framework of strategic initiatives aimed at attracting, retaining, developing and promoting female engineers to the subsea industry. Over a dozen opportunities for individuals to meet,
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exchange, connect and educate each other have already been facilitated or availed to the growing network of over 170 individuals. One such event was the SUT Perth Branch’s June Evening Technical Meeting which was programmed by the WISE Group and featured three female technical speakers. WISE also supported the attendance of 23 STEM university students (both male and female) and provided opportunity following the official presentation for the students to speak with a panel of female subsea industry leaders on the topic of career development.
Plans for the second half of 2017 include outreach programs to primary and secondary school students aimed at providing role models to the next generation of students, demonstrating that females can have successful STEM careers is underway. Plans are also underway to create a communication package that focuses on examples of successful career pathways that have been experienced by female engineers has also begun.
A series of lunchtime training sessions focussing on providing free ‘soft-skills’ development has also been launched, WISE members have received knowledge and expertise from Dr. Jenny Brockis, an authority in the science of high performance, other sessions run have been on public speaking and financial awareness.
One of the challenges in supporting the female’s engineers has been in making programming decisions around other professionals and students wishing to engage in the WISE activities. Maintaining the remit of supporting females whilst recognising a commitment to accessibility, diversity and inclusion and the reality of an industry that is so heavily dominated by males has resulted in great outcomes of engaging male champions and allies throughout the sector. WISE continues to change and adapt as new opportunities present themselves.
Currently applications are being sought for the first intake of a sector-wide mentoring program that aims to support individuals with a focus on developing female engineers into leadership roles (technical or managerial), guiding university students into the workforce, and supporting graduate and professional engineers.
Whilst the WISE network is centrally focussed in Perth, Western Australia where it was established, the WISE network is open to activity in other locations within Australia and internationally; if you would like to be part of this amazing network please get in touch via their website www.subseaenergy.org.au/WISE
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ACCD 300 Mooring Chain Repair Emily Carmichael
Emily Carmichael
Mooring lines are designed to hold floating structures on station. These lines are periodically inspected; and can deteriorate over time, and in some cases fail. This deterioration dictates the requirement to replace any affected length of chain. The DOF Subsea ACCD (Anchor Chain Connection Device) concept has been developed to assist in the replacement of mooring sections and re-connect and tension mooring lines. The advantage of this concept is that chain tensioning and connection can be done at seabed at any depth, as the tool is fully ROV operable. Completing this operation subsea reduces pull-in tensions and minimises risk to personnel.
In some cases it also allows the facilities to remain producing whilst mooring repair or replacement is undertaken. The ACCD consists of two units, which are connected by way of two wire rope slings (tethers). The Active structure contains hydraulic cylinders which apply tensioning force to the mooring chain, while the Passive structure acts as a fixed point, connecting to the existing mooring system anchor (eg, pile),
Anchor Chain Connection Device
which also provides a platform to perform the mooring connection. The main advantage of this tool is the ability to complete mooring replacements over a live field, preventing interruption to production. Other advantages include; compatibility with chain diameters of 76mm – 165mm, tensions of up to 300 tonnes, and the ability to accept almost any type of chain/mooring connector. Future potential applications of this tool include subsea handshakes (drag anchor to pile etc), pipeline walking prevention and rectification, and subsea wire tensioning. The ACCD 300 system has been designed, tested and field proven by DOF Subsea to provide the safest subsea connection solution.
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Flexible Risers and Dynamic Analysis CĂŠline LanoĂŤlle, Lead Engineer, Atteris Various field conditions call for different riser types, but when most compliance is needed in the system, flexible risers are often selected to accommodate large floater excursions and motions. Their dynamic nature and complex structure require a detailed level of assessment to ensure integrity is maintained throughout their life, from installation to decommissioning, and including changes in the operating conditions envelope. This presentation gave a brief overview of flexible risers with a focus on dynamic analysis. Flexible risers are a common feature of subsea developments, especially when producing into a floating production system. There are a number of considerations that have to be made when assessing whether flexible risers are the best option. Technical considerations include the existence of qualified and operational flexible risers for conditions (water depth, diameter, pressure, temperature) similar to the ones being considered, the type of floater being used, eg, TLP, Spar, FPSO etc, and the type of environment it sits in (severe or benign).
On a commercial point of view, flexible risers tend not to be the most attractive option. Due to their complex structure, the cost of manufacturing can be quite high compared to standard steel pipes, with the addition of any ancillary equipment required. IMMR requirements also need to be considered throughout the operational life (visual inspection, annulus vacuum testing). Reduced installation costs are however one of the main benefits of flexible risers and flexible pipes in general. They can be stored on reels, ready to lay with no assembly required (with the exception of buoyancy modules if required), therefore reducing vessel time and installation costs. Once flexible risers are selected, various configurations can be considered. The free hanging catenary is the most economically attractive for benign environment with limited vessel motions and excursions. However, when more compliance is needed buoyancy can be introduced either by means of distributed buoyancy (buoyancy modules), or mid water arches. The lazy wave configuration would be the first one considered as the one requiring smaller amount of ancillaries. However interference with adjacent line may require a restraint at touchdown, in which case a pliant wave, or a steep wave configuration may be considered. For congested layout and limited water depths, configurations with mid water arches may be the best options. However compliance may be reduced with this type of arrangement.
Configuration selection Free Hanging Catenary
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Configuration selection: Wave Configurations Image Source: Subsea Pipelines and Risers - Yong Bai (2005)
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Upon selection of the configuration, dynamic analysis of the riser system can be performed. This includes the following main stages: l Frequency screening l Extreme analysis (and bend stiffener design) l Interference analysis l Fatigue analysis A preliminary frequency screening aims at capturing the peak responses of the system and ensures conservatism in all analysis activities. The objective of extreme analysis is to ensure integrity of the riser system is maintained at all times, under the
most extreme environment. It defines the global configuration of the risers and also sets integrity envelopes for their operating life. The bend stiffener protects the riser from overbending at the topside interface. Its design is part of the extreme analysis, and it is implemented in the remaining of the analysis activities. Interference analysis looks at the potential for clashing and crossing between adjacent lines, confirms the configuration defined as part of the extreme analysis, and determines the azimuth/minimum separation angle for each line pairing. When clashing cannot be avoided, the impact must be assessed in terms of energy, angle and length of contact, and advise from the manufacturer
Celine Lanoelle, Atteris
must be sought to confirm acceptability. Extreme/interference analysis can be an iterative exercise, which is why performing both in parallel can be beneficial if resources allow. Fatigue analysis focuses on assessing the long-term performance of the tensile and pressure armour wires in the annulus. It is typically performing two stages involving: l A global assessment, considering the entire riser and identifying “hot spots� critical for fatigue damage accumulation
l A local analysis, assessing the stresses generated in the cross section, and in turn the fatigue damage and fatigue life based on the selected SN-Curve. Flexible risers can be designed to adapt to a wide range of conditions. But experience is key to make sense of all the numbers involved in riser dynamic analysis, as well as a comprehensive understanding of all interfaces involved (Metocean, Topsides, Naval Architecture, Mooring, Flow Assurance) to perceive any opportunity for design optimisation.
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Winches MacArtney To Deliver Winches For The Offshore Wind Market Robust and energy-efficient offshore cable handling equipment from MacArtney ensures safe transport of array cables and export cables from the seabed onto the substation decks of Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm. Hornsea Project One Offshore Wind Farm is located in the North Sea 14 km off the Danish west coast. The wind farm is equipped with three offshore substations. These substations form the heart of the wind farm and collect and export the power generated by turbines through specialised submarine cables. The scope of supply of this DONG Energy order for the Hornsea Project One Offshore Wind Farm covers three MacArtney 160 kN electrical cable pulling winches including three comprehensive spare parts packages for each of the three winches. The purpose of the winches is to bring array cables and export cables from the seabed onto the substation decks. The power cables are to be pulled through a total of 15 J-tubes onto each substation for connection. The actual winch is rotatable for direct 360 degrees operation and the pull is generated through 250 m Ø32 Dyneema rope. MacArtney supplies additional equipment consisting of a DNV approved password-secured ‘capacity reduction mode’ which enables cable installers to use smaller sheave blocks to install the inter array cables. In addition, the supply includes an integrated data logger with an extra large 15.4 inch HMI, and 360 degrees rotation for optimised operation, which reduces the costs of reversible units and sheave blocks. MacArtney cable handling equipment
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ACE and Scantrol AHC Winch Global deck machinery specialist, ACE Winches has successfully delivered and engineered a back deck solution for Saipem. Working to a tight deadline of three and half weeks, ACE Winches worked in conjunction with Scantrol AS to supply a deck machinery solution which included an Active Heave Compensation winch and A-frame solution that will be used as an auxiliary deep water deployment system for subsea equipment. The deck machinery equipment was engineered and manufactured at ACE Winches facilities in Aberdeenshire and was mobilized to Saipem for work scheduled for 2017 and beyond. Increased operational time, safe handling and reduce risk of damage of subsea equipment are all important arguments of why Active Heave Compensation is important for subsea operations, especially in harsh weather conditions. Scantrol have supplied AHC solutions to ACE Winches since 2011.
Back deck solution
Wet-mate connectors
Recognised throughout the industry
Full range of Ethernet connectors
38 year track record
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Available worldwide Denmark
Norway Sweden
Netherlands Italy
UAE
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South Africa Peru
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Finland
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Portugal
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Cleaning the Oceans Petroleum Geo-Services PGS has developed a concept for efficient, large scale collection of plastic from the oceans and in doing so, provides an elegant solution to use its four Ramform vessels that are currently cold-stacked in Norway. It takes advantage of the vessel's air compressors and capabilities for handling large towing configurations. Each year, eight million tons of plastic ends up in the world's oceans - equivalent to dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the sea every minute. If no action is taken, this is expected to increase to two garbage trucks per minute by 2030 and four garbage trucks per minute by 2050
Above Dual vessel sweeping Below Large onboard compressors are used to pump air through a ventilated hose between the seismic vessel and the support vessel – The air bubbles attach to the submerged plastic which then rises to the sea surface - just like bubbles are attracted to a straw in a glass of sparkling water
Compressed Plastic is Put Into “Sausages� Marked by GPS and AIS The PGS plastic collection concept consists of a seismic vessel and a support vessel towing booms, in a fan formation, which are connected to a processing unit at the end of the spread. The uniqueness of the seismic vessel is its large onboard compressors, which usually supply the seismic source. These are instead used to pump air through a ventilated hose, towed at approximately 50m water depth between the seismic ship and the support vessel. The air bubbles attach to the submerged plastic which then rises to the sea surface,
just like bubbles are attracted to a straw in a glass of sparkling water. The processing unit at the end of the collection spread separates organic materials from plastic. The latter is compressed and packaged into superstrong synthetic skins. Once full, each skin section is marked by GPS and AIS, ready to be collected and towed to a processing facility for recycling. "We have developed an active large scale concept for plastic collection at sea. There are well known garbage geysers in different oceans of the world and our plastic collection concept is intended to take advantage of the currents in these systems and collect plastic before it eventually sinks to the seabed," says Jon Erik Reinhardsen, President & CEO of PGS. The benefits of the Ramform vessels are their high propulsion power making them capable of towing large spreads. Their large compressors can generate enough air to lift submerged plastic to the surface.
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Evening Technical Meeting:
Light Well Intervention, Flowlines Buckle Management and Ichthys URF Installation Wednesday, 9th August 2017
Parmelia Hilton Hotel (Swan Room), Mill St. Perth
Onsite Registration 5.30 pm; Presentations 6.00 pm – 7.30 pm; Networking over drinks and finger food 7.30 pm – 8.30 pm
To register for the event visit www.SUTETM09Aug2017.eventbrite.com.au
Chaired by: Nick McNaughton, Technology Manager, Subsea Engineering Associates Increased Safety & Efficiency from a Dedicated Monohull Intervention Vessel on Deepwater Subsea Wells Bevan Morrison, Sales Manager - Light Well Intervention, TechnipFMC This presentation will cover the basic background and benefits of Light Well Intervention before taking a closer look at some of the specific safety and efficiency benefits as well as limitations this intervention method has compared to the conventional rig based intervention. We will look at the benefits & type of work that can be performed from dedicated light well intervention vessel, including well integrity restoration, contingent well kill and P&A. Buckle Up!: Improving Integrity Analyses of Offshore Pipeline Deflections Using in-line Inspection Adrian Lim, Asia Pacific Regional Manager - Integrity Management and Engineering Services, Rosen Australia Pty. Ltd. Offshore pipelines can be deflected due to a variety of reasons (planned and unplanned). Historically, offshore pipeline deflection and associated strain assessments are carried out based upon ROV and side scan sonar data utilizing finite element analyses. In tandem with planned in-line inspection(s) of pipelines, this presentation will: 1. through actual examples, detail ways to improve the quality, accuracy and efficiency of integrity assessments of deflected pipeline shapes whilst improving cost metrics, and 2. provide other possible benefits arising from this ability to more accurately define the stress / strain state of the pipeline in a holistic manner. From Concept to Reality: EPCI of the Ichthys CPF Riser System Michael Forster, SURF Manager, McDermott The recent arrival of the Ichthys Central Processing Facility (CPF) - the world’s largest semi-submersible represents a major milestone for this Australian megaproject. McDermott International, INPEX’s URF EPCI contractor takes this opportunity to reflect on some of the key engineering, procurement, construction & installation achievements and challenges associated with bringing together a number of boundary pushing subsea products that make-up the CPF riser system – and what is still to come. Particular focus will be given to flexible risers, umbilicals, subsea structures, spools and mooring hookup - and how these elements have been designed, qualified, delivered and installed to assure 40 years of operation in the most challenging of Australia’s offshore environments. ETM programme is subject to change
REGISTRATION FEES:
Student/Individual/Corp Members $30*: Non-Members $50: (additional $5 if paying on night) 5 Ticket Member Pass: $125, 5 Ticket Non-Member Pass: $225
SUT Corporate Members:
2H Offshore Aker Solutions Applus Arup Australian Maritime College (Staff only) Atteris BG Group Bibby Offshore Blue Ocean Monitoring BMT Group BP Exploration BPP-Tech Cameron/OneSubsea Carnegie Wave Energy Chevron ConocoPhillips Curtin University (Staff only) DOF Subsea DNV GL Dril-Quip EMAS Fastwave Forum Subsea Technologies Fugro GE Oil & Gas Genesis Oil & Gas Granherne Hydratight INPEX INTECSEA Kongsberg Maritime Lloyds Register International London Offshore Matrix Composites & Engineering National Oilwell Varco NGI Oceaneering OneSubea Peritus International Premier Oil Proserv Rosen Shell Sonardyne International Subcon Techologies Subsea Engineering Associates SapuraKencana Subsea 7 TechnipFMC TEK-Ocean Total E & P Total Marine Technology UWA (Staff only) Tracerco UTEC Survey UVS Viking SeaTech Western Advance Wood Group Woodside Energy Ltd (correct at time of creating flyer)
CPD = 1.5 hrs
Event Sponsors Join the Society for Underwater Technology Now *New Individual Members can attend this Evening Meeting Free* Apply for Membership today by visiting www.sut.org.au.
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Further sponsorship opportunities available. Please contact Jennifer at j.maninin@sut.org for further details.
SUT Evening Technical Meeting registrations are online. Payment during the registration process (via credit card or invoice) is required in order to secure your place. 5 Ticket Passes are for consecutive meetings. They can be transferred to a fellow Member or Non-Member if you cannot attend. Should you have any questions please contact the SUT on + 61 (0) 8 9446 9903 or email perthevents@sut.org.
Society for Underwater Technology – Perth Branch
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www.sut.org.au
Noble Globetrotter I upgraded to latest Sonardyne DP reference technology Offshore drilling contractor, Noble Corporation, has selected acoustically-aided inertial navigation technology from Sonardyne, for its ultra-deep water drillship Noble Globetrotter I. The Marksman DP-INS system is being used to provide a high integrity, independent subsea position reference for the vessel’s GE DP3 dynamic positioning (DP) system as it drills exploration wells in water depths up to 10 000ft.
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Built in 2011, the Noble Globetrotter I is significantly smaller than a conventional drillship but has the same operational capacity. The reduction in size has been achieved through design features such as a hoistable drilling floor, multi-purpose tower and inboard storage of risers which has allowed deck space and
equipment handling to be fully optimised. The compact design of the vessel also means operating costs are lower thanks to the smaller wind area and lower hull drag. The installation of Marksman DP-INS is an example of Noble’s continued commitment to the delivery of performance improvements and operational savings for customers through innovation. The system improves vessel positioning performance by
exploiting the long term accuracy of Sonardyne’s Wideband acoustic signal technology combined with high integrity, high update rate inertial measurements. The resulting navigation output provides accuracy and update rate that can exceed differential GNSS completely whilst remaining completely independent. In addition to the system’s deep water positioning performance and safety benefits, Marksman DP-INS has been proven to deliver valuable time
and cost savings for rig operators. By tightly-coupling acoustic and inertial data, robust, accurate positions can be measured using just two and three seabed transponders depending on the application. Not only does this reduce installation and calibration time, it also extends transponder battery life as less frequent aiding updates from the seabed transponders are required. The equipment supplied to Noble Corporation included Sonardyne’s vessel-fitted inertial sensor and bridge software. Although DP-INS is compatible with HPR systems from other manufacturers, for this installation, it was interfaced with Noble Globetrotter I’s existing Sonardyne acoustic reference system using the same bridge workstation.
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Underwater Vehicles Decommissioning Solutions Saab Seaeye customer, Stinger Technology, has found a way to penetrate the labyrinth inside offshore production tanks in search of environmental contaminates prior to decommissioning. They managed to squeeze a unique underwater robotic systems configuration loaded with sampling technology through a 150cm2 hatch to search the tank’s internal maze of baffles, and navigate along 25.5 cm diameter pipe-runs of curves and bends.
Stinger’s idea turned the already compact Saab Seaeye Falcon into a ‘mother ship’ from which is launched an even smaller fly-out VideoRay and tiny fly-out Stinger Nano. The Norwegian company dubbed the trio, Mother, Daughter and Little Sister. With the market expecting 1800 wells to be decommissioned over the next 10 years, in Norway and the UK alone, the new ‘little family’ is set to be busy.
Falcon ROV Importantly for offshore operators, is that sampling investigations on installations still in production, but planned for decommissioning, are not interrupted. Saab Seaeye were pleased to collaborate with Stinger who are known for finding innovative ways to work in confined underwater spaces and chose the Falcon as the smallest and most powerful option on the market.
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The Falcon’s five-thruster strong precise manoeuvrability, and the plug and play configurability of its intelligent distributed control system, meant Stinger were confident it
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subsea toolbox, tailor-made subsea interchangeable tools using manipulator, and docking-inclusive cleaning device in its tool basket – all fitted into a total system dimension 1000x1000x850mm.
of
Saab Seaeye engineers were keen to assist in Stinger’s technological achievement, which included Stinger developing their own miniature robotic system in the form of the Nano. Once into the tank and embarking upon the data-gathering mission, two operators work in tandem – one, piloting the Falcon, the other piloting the daughter and sister.
would be an ideal mothership for the two fly-off resources. Measuring just 1 x 0.5 x 0.6m in size, Stinger knew the Falcon could pass through the 150cm hatch and into the ‘nose tank’, even when fully configured, ready for launching the daughter and sister from their integrated tether management system on their extended sampling missions. The entire Falcon mother configuration, with its fly-out 120m TMS, its docking station fly-out daughter and sister, a
The environmental sampling strategy involved seeking out various residues expected within the tank from a lifetime of production cycles. These included oil, oil and water emulsion, wax, scale, sediment and sludge, sand, and possibly smaller gas pockets.
Stinger ROV system deposits on the tank wall and a scoop sampler. Included was a water quality sensor for measuring dissolved oxygen, temperature, conductivity, salinity, specific conductance, resistivity, pH and ORP. A bottle sampler with a manipulator operated release mechanism was also included and a camera to verify successful sample taking.
The VideoRay and Stinger Nano were fitted out with a range of tools including a deposit depth rule tool for measuring sediment and deposits on base and walls, a scraper tool for measuring the thin layer of hydrocarbon wax
ship for Stinger Micro ROV
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Underwater Vehicles Manned Submersible Expedition OceanGate Expeditions and The Cape Eleuthera Institute are embarking on a Bahamas Deep Sea Survey of the twilight zone of the Exuma Sound using the manned submersible Cyclops 1. Beginning in October 2017, with multiple weeks of diving each season over a year, the exploration aims to uncover new details on deep sea sharks and the variety of species that inhabit the waters off the Great Bahama Bank continental shelf. Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate explains, “We are excited to explore in depth the Exuma Sound in the Bahamas. It’s an ideal location for diving, thanks to the year round warm, clear water, and the abundance of natural resources and deep sea organisms. The deep water near the coast makes it a perfect fit for shorebased operation and use of Ms. Lars, our mobile subsea launch and recovery system. This is a great opportunity to advance scientific discovery as our Cyclops 1 can venture far below scuba depth to 500m”.
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OceanGate will provide the submersible and dive crew, while The Cape Eleuthera Institute will share the breadth of scientific knowledge of their content experts, and their excellent facilities in the Bahamas. The submersible will enable repeated visits to rarely explored sites to enhance understanding of habitat association in species and estimates of abundance and
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diversity of life in the Bahamian Deep Sea; critical information for the future management of these poorly recorded natural resources. Dr. Edward Brooks, CEO of the Cape Eleuthera Island School, has
spent the last decade studying sharks, rays, and the deep ocean. He states, “This exciting new partnership builds on eight years of deep-ocean research at Cape Eleuthera. This collaboration with
natural resources on our doorstep; having OceanGate’s manned submersible at our facility for a whole year will allow us to explore the depths of the Bahamas and collect information about deep sea organisms that are still very much a mystery, as well as observe better known creatures like sharks that are more often studied in the shallows.” The first phase of the deep sea survey in October will be conducted as a series of one-day and three-day missions. Additional phases of the survey are planned in 2018 in January, April and July to better assess resident and transient populations across multiple seasons. In addition to the crew and content experts, individuals and groups of up to three are invited to join the expedition in the submersible and ashore as mission specialists. They will actively participate in the operation and receive training according to their interests and abilities to support the dive team as observers, photographers, or to help manage communications and subsea navigation on an authentic scientific expedition. submersible Cyclops 1
OceanGate represents the next natural evolution of our work and opens the door to new scientific and educational opportunity that will allow us to continue to explore and investigate the largest and
least understood ecosystem on the planet - the deep-ocean." Dr. Andrew Gill, Director of the Cape Eleuthera Institute, adds, “We are incredibly fortunate to have these
In addition, the submersible will be made available on a charter basis for researchers to use as part of their specific research projects
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Underwater Vehicles Sea Mole Following an extensive upgrade and modernisation programme, a remotely operated vehicle designed and manufactured by Tyneside-based subsea engineering specialist SMD has successfully completed its first round of projects burying offshore power cables. The Sea Mole (previously Excalibur) trenching vehicle was originally built by SMD in 2000 for use in the telecommunications industry. Now, after an extensive upgrade and modernisation programme designed to maximise the technical capability of the vehicle, it has been deployed by Prysmian Powerlink Services – a branch of the Prysmian Group, the worldwide leader of energy and telecoms cables systems and long-term customer of SMD. Prysmian Powerlink Services are using Sea Mole on long interconnector projects and various major offshore windfarms. After completion of the upgrade work by engineers in SMD Services business, Sea Mole now boasts 200kW of increased jetting capability within the limits of the 900kW installed power. Innovative engineering approaches means this jetting power can be deployed in high or low pressure jet modes to make Sea Mole capable of the depth of cable burial required in the offshore power industry. This depth is now achievable in a wide range of seabed strengths including strong cohesive soils. This upgrade builds upon previous improvements including Variable Speed motor control to tune and optimise the trenching tool performance.
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Equipment MacArtney Fits Out New Multipurpose Vessel MacArtney’s French subsidiary have supplied, installed, and set to work a complete multibeam echo-sounder system and high-speed winch designed and engineered for optimal durability. The newly built state-of-the-art rescue vessel Sirius, operated by VLOOT dab, is 45m long, almost 11m wide, and can reach a speed of 13kts. Being intended for combating disasters at sea, Sirius was designed with maximum attention to sustainability aspects. In consequence, superior-quality equipment was required in order for the vessel to fulfil the demands made on its functionality. The scope of supply for Sirius features a multibeam echo sounder system comprising the following products: a highresolution multibeam echo sounder, Kongsberg EM 2040 Dual RX, which is a wide band HD shallow water multibeam echo sounder optimal for any high-resolution mapping and inspection application. The scope also includes an inertial sensor, Kongsberg Seapath 300, developed specifically for hydrographic and other high-precision applications. Seapath 300 combines inertial technology with GPS satellite signals. Sirius is also equipped with sound velocity sensors Valeport Midas SVX2 for profiling and Valeport miniSVS for surface measurement. Both sensors include digital time of flight sound velocity, and the SVX2 also acquires CTD profiling. The scope also covers a QPS QINSy hydrographic data acquisition, navigation, and processing software package and MacArtney’s CORMAC Q2 winch intended to tow the side scan sonar. Supported by their suppliers and the Socarenam shipyard, MacArtney France were in charge of and conducted all the testing procedures resulting in the equipment having been successfully accepted. The high quality of integration allows to reach a speed of 13kts while keeping a high level of bathymetry quality.
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Featuring superior acoustic quality and high accuracy, this multibeam echo sounder system enables easy and quick downloading and sharing of data relevant in relation to Sirius and her functionalities. In addition, the multifunctionality of the vessel complies with the strictest environmental standards and regulations.
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Equipment Added features on BIRNS Millennium
Sonar Repeat Order
Birns has introduced newly added features to its flagship high performance 6km-rated subsea connector line, the BIRNS Millennium series, including hex flats on its coupling rings to make the connectors even easier to loosen by hand or with a wrench, and allow a torque wrench to be used so that a specific mating torque can be applied for certain high-precision applications.
Kraken Sonar has been awarded a repeat contract valued at over C$400 000 by a leading European defence contractor to supply and integrate its AquaPix Miniature Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Sonar and Real-Time SAS Signal Processor on the customer’s Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). Delivery is expected in Q3, 2017.
The company has also developed special wrenches for each connector size in the series. Each hard phosphor bronze coupling ring features Higbee threads--a special formation at the beginning of the thread providing positive identification to eliminate cross threading-and includes exclusive anti-rotation locking set screws.
AquaPix is designed for operation on AUVs, manned and unmanned surface vessels and towed platforms. The modular system uses the latest electronics, transducer arrays and signal processing software optimised for the demanding size, weight, power and cost constraints of unmanned maritime vehicles.
Another new feature is a special viewing hole that allows a user to visually verify that the connectors are fully mated, provides additional water drainage when surfacing and even provides a spanner-wrench capability. BIRNS has also introduced new lamps for lights for applications from helmet and vehicle use to PVHO, including the BIRNS Doubly-Safe Chamber Light-LED. The new 450 lumen lamps for this rugged chamber light have 35 000hr lamp lives and come in a wide selection of voltage ranges, all with a mere 6.5W power draw. The system provides BIRNS' proprietary Doubly-Safe dual helium release method, which makes the entire front of the light its own helium release valve. It consists of a back-up spring in the front lens mount, along with its additional stainless steel release mechanism, to safely and quickly remove any gas that might otherwise get trapped during compression.
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The BIRNS Double-Safe Chamber LightLED is tailored for pressurized helium/ oxygen use in submarines, diving bells and decompression chambers, and has a low profile of 76mm, and is easily mounted on ceilings and walls.
Doubly-Safe Chamber Light-LED
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Conventional side scan systems are limited in that they only provide high resolution imagery at short ranges. AquaPix produces ultra high-resolution seabed imagery at long ranges. The additional information provided by AquaPix delivers detection and identification capabilities that cannot be achieved with conventional sidescan sonar. While AquaPix can provide 3cm resolution at ranges up to 300m per side, the resolution of even the best side scan sonars is 1m or greater at these ranges. Higher resolution allows AquaPix to provide useable area coverage rates up to 10 times better that of conventional sidescan, which reduces mission time and provides faster actionable intelligence. AquaPix also generates highly accurate 3D bathymetry data that is registered and georeferenced to the same pixel grid co-ordinates as the imagery. Operators can simultaneously produce crisp seabed imagery and detailed 3D digital terrain maps of seafloor topography that exceed IHO SP-44 survey standards. The capability of generating centimetre-scale resolution in all three spatial domains also provides significant performance improvements in the detection, classification and identification of small seabed objects.
“DELIVERING INDUSTRY-LEADING SURVEY PERFORMANCE AND DATA RESOLUTION TO OUR CLIENTS”
MEET US AT STAND S-P10 AT OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY 2017
UT2 magazine20170412.indd 1
2017-04-12 09:26:28
Surge in Valeport Tide Gauge Sales Valeport has reported that sales of its portfolio of tide gauge instrumentation, including TideMasters, Radar sensors and the TideStation equipment rose 22% over the same period in 2016. Valeport’s tidal observation hub, TideStation, optimises performance of instrumentation and is designed to be flexible in its configuration and has Valeport’s industry leading tide gauge system at its core. The compact and robust TideStation unit offers pressure, radar and hybrid tidal observation techniques coupled with interfaces to other meteorological, telemetry and third party systems.
Radar sensors developed by Valeport such as the VRS-20, which is a pulsed k-band radar level sensor, are designed to work seamlessly with the TideMaster tide logger and to operate standalone with optional integrated GPRS telemetry or interface to a third party data logger. Versatile and simple to install, the VRS-20 addresses a number of the issues traditionally associated with water level measurement. The non-contact technology removes the installation, corrosion
and fouling issues of submerged sensors, while simplifying datum control. Accuracy and performance are unaffected by changes in water density and atmospheric conditions. Kevin Edwards, Valeport sales and marketing manager, commented: “Not only are we seeing our tide gauge products being incredibly popular at the moment, with us working at full capacity to meet deliveries, but we’ve also seen a significant step change in sales to the oil and gas sector – with SVX2s, IPS and Altimeters."
The Valeport TideMaster provides an accurate, versatile and easily deployed tide gauge for use in short or long term survey operations. TideMaster is compatible with a wide range of hydrographic software and tools. A control/display panel, Bluetooth, SD card memory and an optional weather sensor provide unrivalled functionality. Low power consumption and a user selectable sampling regime allow for up to a year of autonomous operation, whilst optional telemetry packages extend the capabilities for real time operations.
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Equipment Echoscope Sale Coda Octopus has sold multiple Echoscope units to the SGTM-STFA Joint Venture for their Breakwater Construction Projects. SGTM-STFA are currently developing a new breakwater and port in the Moroccan town of Safi on North Africa’s West Coast. The breakwater project involves the construction of a 3km breakwater using both single layer Accropode IIs and dual layer 10m3 and 22m3 ANTIFER blocks. The breakwater is situated in an exposed coastal area which frequently sees the effects of major Atlantic storms resulting in large currents and waves in the region. This naturally hostile environment, with large waves and low subsea visibility precludes the use of divers or cameras to visualise underwater and places even greater emphasis on the interlocking and correct positioning between each block as it is laid. SGTM-SFTA originally trialled the Echoscope in June 2016. The Echoscope was mounted to a solid frame attached to a crawler crane and was used to visualise the ANTIFER blocks in real-time and in 3D as they are placed. Combined with a unique block-release system designed by SGTM-STFA, the use of the Echoscope achieved instant productivity and accuracy gains with the set-up. The project team were able to safely work 24 hour shifts, at all sea conditions where working of the cranes and personnel allowed, to achieve a maximum installation rate of 90+ ANTIFER blocks in a 24 hour period. The real-time 3D visualisation provided by the Echoscope enables the crane operator to ‘see’ the block under the water, enabling accurate and fast placement of the block.
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Following the initial trial in June 2016, the project team were immediately convinced of the benefits the Echoscope could offer for this challenging project and quickly moved to install multiple systems on their cranes to support the project. Each system has ensured productivity and accuracy gains can be repeated across the project site. SGTM-STFA now plan to use the Echoscope on their next breakwater construction project in Nador. Mert Cirak, Technical Director from SGTM-STFA comments: “The Echoscope has proved to be of significant value to the project, and has justified the investment cost many times over, enabling day and
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Above Water Section of the New Breakwater
night operation in any kind of underwater visibility and sea conditions. The very high installation efficiencies were reached with a single crane and Echoscope, in the past this would have required three different installation teams to achieve the same number of blocks laid in 24 hours. The Coda Octopus Support Team has been exceptional and has given us a lot of confidence in the technology”. Blair Cunningham, Coda Octopus President of Technology comments: “This project reinforces the Echoscope Solution as the preferred solution for breakwater construction. The ability to see and track the blocks into position and monitor their position post placement is at the heart of the increased
Products from Imenco Aberdeen based Imenco UK has actively promoted various new products to successfully drive new business opportunities during the first 5 months of 2017. Efforts over the last few years to provide diversification from the company’s traditional oil and gas background have led to new business in aquaculture, offshore renewable energy, marine survey and most recently in nuclear. New electronic products include a range of Imenco subsea IP cameras building on the success of the SUBvis Orca HD over Ethernet (IP) camera launched in 2015. Safi Breakwater Construction Site
productivity gains. Moreover, the Echoscope solution can be used at both the pre-lay design to post-lay survey and inspection. ”.
Acoustic Image of an ANTIFER Block being laid in position
The developments undertaken by the technical and development team in Norway have provided a family of IP cameras with or without the Imenco ‘SMART brain’, involving smaller housings, lowlight, wide-angle options, multiple cameras operations from a single source, and other innovative cost and time saving efficiencies.
New LED light options have been developed in tandem to the camera family’s growth. Beyond the successful introduction of the Piranha anode system (more than 1000 units sold to date), customer needs have been met on the corrosion protection front with the development of larger or bespoke anode systems to provide specific solutions to a diverse range of challenges presented in offshore wind installations in the North Sea and in late life asset extension work off the UKCS and off the coast of West Africa. Responding to customer requirements for different helifuel options in offshore renewable energy, Imenco’s Aviation team have developed a smaller, lighter, modular based refuelling package than that normally provided to the oil and gas sector. Imenco Bauer Hydraulics and Diinef are launching the world’s first High Torque Low Speed digital motor. This development is a significant step in the commercialization of digital motor technology offering unprecedented efficiency, double the power, advanced control functions via embedded electronics and sensors, and is controlled via a high speed Ethernet connection.
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Piranha anode system
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Equipment OSIL Nortek Partnership Systems integrator Ocean Scientific International Ltd (OSIL) has awarded Nortek AS status as an approved partner. For over twenty years, Nortek has been known for the development and manufacture of acoustic Doppler instrumentation. Nortek’s industryleading Doppler technology has long been used to understand physical processes in the ocean, as well as in rivers, lakes and laboratories. OSIL has therefore produced and installed hundreds of systems that integrate Nortek equipment, and the approved partner status is a natural evolution of this long-standing collaboration. While data buoys represent the majority of systems installed, OSIL also has vast experience with producing seabed mounting frames (with optional gimbals), and other bespoke mooring, deployment and profiling systems for more unique monitoring requirements. Nortek instrumentation
Reach contract Reach Subsea has been awarded a Letter of Intent from a European contractor for a project with estimated duration of four months. A fleet expansion will be necessary to meet the requirements in the contract. The project will be executed together with partner MMT Sweden.
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Sonardyne all-in-one navigation chosen for Thai AUV programme Marine robotics technology supplied by Sonardyne Asia, of Singapore has been selected to help navigate a new autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) being developed by a joint-research program between PTT and Kasetsart University (KU), Bangkok, Thailand. The order for a SPRINT inertial navigation system (INS) and Syrinx Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) was placed by the PTTEP-KU and will be integrated on a 4000m rated, long endurance AUV being built for applications including pipeline maintenance and oil-spill detection. Sonardyne’s SPRINT technology
makes use of aiding from data sources including acoustics, DVL and pressure sensors to improve the accuracy, precision and integrity of subsea vehicle positioning over long distances. KU, as part of this research program, will be the first academic institution in the region to own Sonardyne’s new, third generation SPRINT which supports dual gyrocompass and INS operating modes, allowing AUV pilots and survey teams to utilise its navigation output simultaneously. A redesigned lightweight titanium housing provides valuable space and weight savings to help maximise mission endurance.
Syrinx DVL provides tightly integrated beam-level aiding for SPRINT, even if one or two DVL beams are unavailable. It is able to operate at altitudes up to 50% higher than conventional 600 kHz DVLs with the high resolution performance of a 1200 kHz DVL, all whilst navigating over undulating and challenging terrain of any type. Daniel Tan, Regional Sales Manager for Sonardyne in Singapore said, “The marine robotics team at Kasetsart are designing a vehicle that will be capable of conducting pipeline inspections over distances of 100 km without any external position aiding.
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Underwater Vehicles Contract To Build Signed By Utas For Australia’s First ISE Explorer AUV The 5000 meter depth Explorer class Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) manufactured by International Submarine Engineering for the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and the Australian Research Council (ARC) Antarctic Gateway Partnership project has successfully completed sea trials. It arrived at Australian Maritime College last May. This Explorer will be ISE’s fourth under-ice capable AUV that builds on the success of Theseus and the two Arctic Explorer vehicles owned and operated by Natural Resources Canada. AGP Theme 4 (Marine Technology and Polar Environments) Leader and AMC Principal, Professor Neil Bose, said this Explorer will be utilized by a group of scientists and operators taking the under-ice capable vehicle into unexplored environments. Explorer’s variable ballast system will facilitate unique science operations such as sediment and ice sampling. This will be a novel use for Explorer’s variable ballast system which has been utitilized previously on Explorer and Theseus AUVs to facilitate parking and cable laying. This Explorer AUV will be equipped with an EdgeTech 2205 sonar which incorporates side scan, sub bottom and bathymetric capabilities in one compact package. "The Edgetech 2205 integration is unique in that it can be orientated up or down allowing for mapping of the bottom of the ice shelf in addition to the seafloor," said James McFarlane, Executive Vice President.
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"That is why when you look at images of the vehicle there are acoustic windows on the top and bottom of the payload section. "We also used a new manufacturing process for the variable ballast system, the sphere was 3D printed in Titanium."
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Underwater Vehicles
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Underwater Vehicles A Blast For Falcon The ability to cavitation-blasting 68 intake screens in six days at a drill ship, whilst working in eight-foot waves and 2.5kt currents using the small Saab Seaeye Falcon, won a competitive advantage for Inquest Services in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite its diminutive one metre size the Falcon held steady and stable against the 3000psi force of the cavitation blaster, a feat achieved by the Falcon’s intelligent control system and its five powerful thrusters – a design concept from Saab Seaeye that has made it a worldwide success. “Using the Falcon was a
sophisticated solution that gave us a competitive advantage over commercial divers,” declares Chris Walker, dive supervisor at Inquest, who undertake both diving and ROV services. “The Falcon was faster, safer and kept working for as long as needed.” He describes how they removed up to three inches of hard growth on the 68 screens during the six days and up to two inches of soft growth in the vessel’s moonpool. Another saving for the customer, explains Chris Walker, came from inspecting and cleaning the ship’s thrusters, as only the thruster the
Falcon was working on needed to be shut down, rather than having to stop all thrusters in the quadrant, necessary for safety when work is undertaken by a diver. His customers also liked that the extremely small footprint of the Falcon system had no impact on other operations on board the ship. Prior to the start of the cleaning operation, Inquest sent the Falcon to visually examine the drill ship’s lower hull and side shell, along with the moonpool inside the vessel. For the cleaning mission, Inquest created a modified tray to house the
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Left Pre cleaning Right- Post Cleaning cavity blaster on board the Falcon in a complex but effective configuration, says Chris Walker. He says the Falcon was the ideal choice for the undertaking:
“The unique character of the Falcon, that measures just 1 x 0.5 x 0.6 metres, has made it the most successful electric underwater robotic vehicle of its size in the world since its launch over 15 years ago.
World First Commercial Onshore Remote WROV Operations Started What is claimed to be the world’s first commercial onshore controlled ROV operations, commenced at IKM Subsea headquarters in Bryne Norway last June.
We foresee a potential significant cost saving for our clients with less POB and increasing operational time offshore for the ROVs. With this setup and proven technology
in place we see this as the first of many stepping stones into the future of ROV technology for IKM Subsea said Business Development Manager Hans Fjellanger.
In the near future up to 3 Work class ROVs and 1 Observation ROV on Statoil’s Snorre B and Visund installations will be controlled from IKM Subsea’s onshore control center.One of the Work Class ROVs (RROV) has been designed and engineered to be permanently based on the seabed and will only be brought to surface for periodic maintenance. The Company Acceptance Test (CAT) with Statoil was completed on 12th of June with the ROV at Snorre B and the dual control centre is now up and running.
Onshore controlled ROV operations
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Installation Dual Draglink (DDC) Subsea Crane Rolls-Royce has been assigned by the Brazilian ship owning company CBO to equip an existing offshore platform supply vessel (PSV) with a new patented dual draglink (DDC) subsea crane. This will be the first installation of a subsea crane designed to be able to use either fibre or steel wire rope. The hybrid DDC subsea crane will be installed on the vessel CBO Manoella, which is currently being retrofitted from PSV into a ROV Support Vessel (RSV). The active heave compensated crane is designed for continuous operation in a tough and corrosive offshore environment with focus on efficient and safe load handling. The crane to be installed on CBO Manoella is a hybrid dual draglink crane with a lifting capacity of up to 50 tonnes and an operating depth of up to 3000m. It will be equipped with wire rope when it embarks on its first subsea assignment off the coast of Brazil. However the possibility of changing to fibre rope provides flexibility in a challenging market. Because of the low weight of the fibre rope, the vessel’s deck load capacity can be increased by approximately 100 tonnes. Another benefit of using a low weight fibre rope instead of steel wire is increased lifting capacity at large depths.
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The cable tractions control unit (CTCU) forms the crane winch and is located at the crane’s main boom. This solution saves space compared to a solution where the CTCU unit is mounted below deck, and also makes it a better choice for retrofits.
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CBO Manoella The horizontal elbow derrick movements provide Active Heave Compensation (AHC). This significantly reduces wear and build-up of heat in the lifting line
compared to when the AHC is part of the winch. CBO Manoella has 76.7m overall length, a beam of 17m,
and a gross tonnage of 2668 tonnes. It has a Rolls-Royce UT 715 L design and first went into service in 2009. It was then number two in a series of nine
UT 715 L-designs ordered by CBO. Today the vessel is part of CBO’s current fleet of in total 27 offshore vessels, of which 14 are UT-designs from Rolls-Royce.
The delivery from Rolls-Royce will take place in Q3 this year. It comprises a complete DDC crane system including the CTCU, cabin and control system.
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Installation 3D Motion Compensated Cranes TTS Group and ULSTEIN have joined forces in providing 3D motion compensated cranes to the offshore industry. This collaboration has resulted in the contract for a TTS Colibri motion compensated crane to a newbuild offshore wind SOV project for Louis Dreyfus Armateurs. Delivery is planned for Q2, 2018. The new product combines TTS’s competences in crane design and manufacturing with Ulstein’s expertise in innovative motion technology and analysis. “Two aspects make the TTS Colibri unique compared to other solutions in the market,” says Gilbert Rezette, managing director of Ulstein Equipment, a Dutch subsidiary of Ulstein Group. “First of all, our inhouse developed Colibri system is a stand-alone add-on device to a standard offshore crane. It adds functionality, while the crane maintains its functionality as a full-fledged offshore crane including deepwater subsea capabilities. But what makes this system truly unique is its groundbreaking anti-sway technology, which also allows to mitigate wind induced motions which act directly on the load.” The TTS Colibri crane will come in a range of three different sizes: 1t, 3t and 7t. The first contract is for a 1t version, where the crane itself still has its capability to lift 3t with a 10t retrofit option.
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“Joining forces has enabled both our companies to offer a serious and commercially very attractive alternative in this market segment,” says Carl Herland, Sales Manager at TTS Offshore Solutions, a subsidiary of TTS Group. “Moreover, the Colibri technology is also suitable for retrofitting existing cranes, making it a viable solution for upgrading cranes already in service. Hence, it offers shipowners the possibility to create more flexibility for their existing fleet.”
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ROVs Underwater Power and Data Connection System Two Norwegian companies have embarked on the development and testing of a new underwater power & data connection system that will reduce cost and improve efficiency of vessel-based offshore ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) operations. DOF Subsea and WiSub, have begun cooperation on the development and testing of WiSub’s pinless connection systems in an international initiative to set a new standard in subsea connection. WiSub patented, award-winning pinless connection systems deliver power and data electromagnetically across a seawater gap, relaxing mating tolerances and eliminating short-circuit possibilities. Connection and reconfiguration of ROV systems can be performed both on-deck and at the subsea work site. The absence of pins allows unlimited mating cycles even while powered. The use of pinless connections also increases dive time and reduces transit time through the water column, creating not only gains in efficiency but also gains in safety; a lower number of required launch and recovery cycles reduces personnel risk offshore. There is also an environmental advantage to pinless electrical connection as it facilitates the evolution away from hydraulic connections and towards subsea electrification, offering inherently cleaner and more energy-efficient operations.
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Underwater Vehicles Deeper Towing Made Easy With Fishers DDW-1 Deep Dive Wing One of the problems encountered when towing oceanographic instruments is the cable length required to get the equipment to the optimal depth. A typical ratio of cable length to tow depth is 4 to 1, which means 400 feet of cable is needed to tow at a depth of 100 ft. Increase the tow speed, and even more cable is needed. To overcome this problem a downrigger weight or depressor wing is commonly used. The advantage of the wing is that operates on the principle of hydrodynamic depression, rather than just weight, to overcome the limitation of conventional downrigger systems. When using a wing, the ratio of cable length to tow depth is cut in half which means the equipment can be towed at a depth of 100 feet using only 200ft of cable. Advantages of using a wing are; no big piles of cable on the boat deck, cost savings of buying shorter cables, elimination of the need for a large, expensive cable handling system. In the past, many of these depressors were custom made to fit specific equipment. This meant the wings were expensive and had limited applications. JW Fishers saw the solution as a universal wing that could be used with any type of equipment and developed the DDW-1 deep dive wing.
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Now universities, salvage companies, government agencies and military units worldwide are using this wing to tow a variety of oceanographic equipment
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including side scan sonars, magnetometers, metal detectors, video systems, hydrophones, and more. One company successfully using the DDW-1 is ADEDE in Belgium.
They employ a team of highly specialized professionals equipped with the latest hardware available to locate and recover subsea unexploded ordnance (UXO), as well as conduct geophysical and archaeological surveys. A recent project involved the archaeological survey and search for UXO prior to installation of a windfarm off the coast of Germany. The area was extensively mined by both the Germans and Allies during the first and second World Wars. In WWII the Allies had a bomber route running over the area, making it highly likely the space contained aerial bombs, unexploded anti-aircraft shells, and crash sites. Extensive side scan and magnetometer surveys of the area were conducted, and the DDW-1 made it easier to tow the equipment at the required depth reported geophysical
MMT NordStream Contract surveyor Alexander Cattrysee. The National Institute of Aquatic Resources is part of the Technical University of Denmark and is known as DTU Aqua. Their mission is to conduct research, provide information, educate, and contribute innovation to the field of aquatic resources management.
Left - the Deep Dive Wing Below: showing the scale of the wing
MMT Sweden has been awarded a three-year contract by Nord Stream to inspect both lines of the line running through the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. The external inspection of the pipeline will be executed by the joint venture between MMT Sweden and Reach Subsea.
The purpose of these surveys is to acquire data on the condition of both pipeline strings and associated installations. This information is used in the continued assessment of the pipelines’ integrity, and will complement the data generated in earlier inspection campaigns.
The scope of work, involving approximately 150 days for 2017, includes visual and instrumental inspection of the pipelines with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) over the entire length of the route.
MMT Sweden’s founder Ola Oskarsson commented: “We are very proud to be chosen to conduct the important inspections of this great infrastructure project and bring our new technology to the Baltic Sea.
The trenched sections and cable crossings of the pipeline will also be inspected. The survey will mainly be conducted from the vessel Stril Explorer.
In cooperation with our partner, Reach Subsea, we will support Nord Stream’s safe and environmentally sound energy transport to Europe.”
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Underwater Vehicles Atlas Elektronik MCM Mission Last June, the ATLAS ELEKTRONIK ARCIMS Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) departed the Belgian Naval base fitted with a towed AQS-24B minehunting sonar from Nothrop Grumman and the SeaFox mine disposal system. ARCIMS transit to the tactical training area was independent of any support from the CPV for the 36km passage. Once in the operational area a six hour “Detect to Engage” mission was carried out using both remote control and autonomous operations. This included 12 km2 of continuous mine hunting survey at 14kts with two laser identification runs and a SeaFox engagement against a mine contact that had been detected and classified by the towed sonar. ATLAS ELEKTRONIK’s new station keeping autonomy behaviour was utilised to position the ARCIMS for accurate and stable launch and delivery of SeaFox mine disposal mission. Throughout the realistic tactical scenario the ARCIMS Detect to Engage mission package received C2 from the MCM Commander based on BNS Pollux, which maintained a mobile stand-off distance and utilised a radio communications system that was fitted to the CPV and tested in just 1 hour.
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The AEUK ARCIMS USV once again proved its versatility and adaptability matching the CPV speed in transit, towing a minehunting sonar at 1 kts and station holding in SS2/3 and 22 knots of wind.
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SUT
Report on SUT Perth Branch Evening Technical Meeting Wednesday 8th February 2017
Shark Fest By Terry Griffiths, Perth Branch Committee Member When talking about sharks, it’s impossible to begin anywhere else but Amity Island and John Williams’ Academy Award-winning and universally recognised main "shark" theme, a simple recurring (ostinato) alternating pattern of two notes which “have become a classic piece of suspense music, synonymous with approaching danger. Williams described the theme as grinding away at you, just as a shark would do, instinctual, relentless, unstoppable." (Wikipedia). But for those of us who live in Western Australia, where we have such a strong lifestyle connection with the ocean, our concerns about the risks of shark attack become quite personal – whether it be through swimming, surfing, diving or our community service as volunteer lifeguards. Somewhat unusually for an SUT evening technical meeting then, this topic transcends the boundary between our professional lives as subsea scientists and engineers and becomes personally relevant. The evening began with SUT Perth Branch’s new chair Chris Saunders offering the branch’s thanks to outgoing Chair Dr. Julie Morgan, who has lead the branch through the last two ‘very tough’ years. He then introduced me as the chair just-for-the-evening, something which is a great honour! I then introduced our first speaker for the evening, Dr Miles Parsons who is a Research Fellow at Curtin University’s Centre for Marine Science and Technology.
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Miles described the results of a number of research themes which had been investigated over the last few years following a number of fatal and near-fatal shark attacks in Western Australia. He described the fundamentals of
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sound underwater and the different methods animals, fish and scientific instruments use to sense sound. He also described the results of research to determine whether human activity acts as an acoustic que for sharks by quantifying the contribution to ambient ocean noise from typical human activities like swimming, surfing and diving/snorkelling. The key observations being that other ocean noise sources dominate, and that he is a somewhat slow / noisy swimmer! Miles then described the research being undertaken to investigate the detection of sharks using sonar and how the physics of subsea acoustics needs to be understood to make useful progress in this work – with some promising results to-date but raising a number of issues for its long-term use as a beach management alert for shark presence. I then introduced Lindsay Lyon, CEO & Managing Director of Shark Shield Pty Ltd who described the various sensory receptors and their respective ranges in sharks, and how this has been used to develop the Shark Shield as an effective electrical deterrent to shark attack. He described how in psychology classical conditioning is best known from the experiments by Ivan Pavlov where a stimulus was presented and then the dog was given food, after a few repetitions when the stimulus was presented the dog would salivate. While the potential for Shark Shield to act as a progressive Pavlovian deterrent when used systematically by (for example) surfers, the audience were quite taken with the parallel concept that at present, as a community, we are training sharks to associate humans with food – be it the consistent use by anglers of burley at reefs and points adjacent to surf breaks, the association between speargun ‘clicks’ and the resulting ‘free feed’ for the shark, or the deliberate
placement of people in cages while sharks are deliberately enticed to come and investigate… troubling indeed! The final speaker for the evening was Richard Talmage, General Manager for the CleverBuoy division of Shark Mitigation Systems Ltd. He described SMS’s work to develop scientific, non-invasive technologies to mitigate shark attacks – including using patterned body-suits and board decoration to appear less inviting to sharks. However the main focus of Richard’s talk was on the CleverBuoy, a sonar detection and alert system that has been developed for improved beach safety. CleverBuoy uses the latest generation of multibeam imaging sonars which when combined with a state-of-the-art shark detection software and processing electronics tool called SharkTec, detects the swim pattern and shape of objects in order to detect approaching sharks and alert authorities. The presentation included very informative examples from the field trials of the system, including the sonar image filtering algorithms and strategies for aggregation of detected objects into the different body-parts of a shark. The conclusion of the presentations provided the audience with the chance to sincerely thank our sponsors for the evening – Shark Mitigation Systems and the Ocean’s Institute which is based at UWA. We then proceeded to ask the speakers quite a few questions, from purely technical then venturing into the political debate over community safety and (in)effective government management strategies / controls – at which point the just-for-theevening chair suggested that line of discussion was better suited to continuance over beverages!
Evening Technical Meeting:
Subsea Electrical Technologies and Innovations in Pipeline Construction & Materials Wednesday, 11th October 2017
Parmelia Hilton Hotel (Swan Room), Mill St. Perth
Onsite Registration 5.30 pm; Presentations 6.00 pm – 7.30 pm; Networking over drinks and finger food 7.30 pm – 8.30 pm
To register for the event visit www.SUTETM11Oct2017.eventbrite.com.au
Chaired by: TBC ETM programme is subject to change Latest Innovations in Pipeline Construction and Integrity Management Mathieu Beaujon, Regional Commercial Manager APAC, SERIMAX Last years have seen significant efforts put into new technologies and innovations to optimize costly offshore operations on pipelay vessels. The “firing line” has been scrutinized by the industry to find ways to improve productivity without compromising the integrity and quality of CRA pipelines. Critical path activities such as the fit up of two CRA pipes together is a key area of improvement. Because Linepipe end matching is now mandatory for almost all CRA pipeline projects , laser technology called cleverscan is now used for pipe end laser dimensioning and sorting . By optimizing fit up time and fit up quality, vessel production and pipeline integrity are improved. Serimax also developed a full range of technologies to enhance pipeline integrity such as the “Roxane” gas purging and monitoring system or “Scanvision” tool all integrated onto the ILUC (Internal Line Up Clamp), or “Cleverweld”, a fully automated integrity management solution designed for customizable, fit-for-purpose pipeline production reporting, full traceability for welding, NDT, field joint coating, and data storage from anywhere in the world. The presentation will detail how Serimax think and developed all their latest innovations, their benefits and how they fit in the big picture of a pipeline project, from linepipe manufacture to final offshore installation. A demonstration of the Cleverscan tool will also take place during the ETM.
Pre-Qualification Testing of Styrenic-based Wet Insulation System and Castable Field Joint for Offshore Pipelines Stuart McLennan, Regional Business Development Manager, Oceania, Shawcor The presentation outlines Thermotite® ULTRA™, a styrenic-alloy insulation system and NEMO 1.1 field joint coating. ULTRA™ provides a lower thermal conductivity and higher strength than conventional blown polypropylene foam systems. Consequently, it provides a thinner solution and suitable for greater water depths. NEMO 1.1 is an epoxy-urethane hybrid system that is suitable as field joint coating system and achieves a high level of bonding to the adjacent styrenic, olefinic and urethane based wet insulation systems. NEMO 1.1 material overcomes the challenges associated with traditional polyurethane (PU) systems and at the same time allows for cycle times similar to PU systems. A pre-qualification test has been carried out using Thermotite® ULTRA™ and NEMO 1.1. The results are shared, including full scale simulated service test, bending and roller box test. Application of Composite Technology in Deepwater Benoit Lamoureux, Director, DORIS Engineering Australia Pty Ltd Thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP) is considered as a promising technology to enable cost effective field development. This presentation will review the current state of the art for TCP application, the technical limits, the selection criteria and the benefit expected for subsea deepwater and ultra-deepwater environments. Comparison between the use of TCP solution and equivalent steel pipe’s technology will be provided for typical of field developments. Offshore and Subsea Electrical Technologies as Economic Enablers Peter Baker, Senior Subsea Engineer, SPEC Consultancy New offshore oil and gas developments have to compete even harder for economic viability at current global oil and gas prices. However, offshore technologies have been developed enabling marginal or even currently unviable developments to become more competitive. A number of electrical technologies are now available for use as long as the correct qualification steps are taken to manage the risk of their introduction. Typical technologies include: Active flowline heating (Direct Electrical Heating, Electrical Trace Heating); All electric subsea production systems; Long distance offshore power transmission and distribution; Gas to wire. In the right applications, using one or more of these technologies can change the economics of marginal offshore developments, allowing lower cost developments to go forward in this more competitive environment.
REGISTRATION FEES:
Student/Individual/Corp Members $30*: Non-Members $50: (additional $5 if paying on night) 5 Ticket Member Pass: $125, 5 Ticket Non-Member Pass: $225 Join the Society for Underwater Technology Now *New Individual Members can attend this Evening Meeting Free* Apply for Membership today by visiting www.sut.org.au.
SUT Corporate Members:
2H Offshore Aker Solutions Applus Arup Australian Maritime College (Staff only) Atteris BG Group Bibby Offshore Blue Ocean Monitoring BMT Group BP Exploration BPP-Tech Cameron/OneSubsea Carnegie Wave Energy Chevron ConocoPhillips Curtin University (Staff only) DOF Subsea DNV GL Dril-Quip EMAS Fastwave Forum Subsea Technologies Fugro GE Oil & Gas Genesis Oil & Gas Granherne Hydratight INPEX INTECSEA Kongsberg Maritime Lloyds Register International London Offshore Matrix Composites & Engineering National Oilwell Varco NGI Oceaneering OneSubea Peritus International Premier Oil Proserv Rosen Shell Sonardyne International Subcon Techologies Subsea Engineering Associates SapuraKencana Subsea 7 TechnipFMC TEK-Ocean Total E & P Total Marine Technology UWA (Staff only) Tracerco UTEC Survey UVS Viking SeaTech Western Advance Wood Group Woodside Energy Ltd (correct at time of creating flyer)
CPD = 1.5 hrs
Many thanks to the event sponsors:
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SUT Evening Technical Meeting registrations are online. Payment during the registration process (via credit card or invoice) is required in order to secure your place. 5 Ticket Passes are for consecutive meetings. They can be transferred to a fellow Member or Non-Member if you cannot attend. Should you have any questions please contact the SUT on + 61 (0) 8 9446 9903 or email perthevents@sut.org.
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Society for Underwater Technology – Perth Branch
www.sut.org.au
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