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UT Issue Four 2018
13:25:19 I E 123 I SE IS
2018-02-01
UCV DIVE 264
DPT
300
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342.2
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Residential ROVs
Risers
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UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018
Capital-Efficient
Production Tree
Subsea Solutions UT3 Issue 4 2018
Unified Controls
Lead time: 12 months
Lead time: 12 months
Wellhead
Lead time: 8 months
Pump
Lead time: 18 months UT Issue Four 2018
13:25:19 I E 123 I SE IS
2018-02-01
Manifold UCV DIVE 264
DPT
Lead time: 18 months
Connection System
300
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Lead time: 6 months
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342.2
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Residential ROVs
Risers
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UT2 Issue 4 August 2018
Merlin Resident ROV
Image: IKM
Vol 12 No 4
Society for Underwater
Technology
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Chancery Lane
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ISSN: 1752-0592
The OneSubsea portfolio of standardized designs supports streamlined processes, documentation,
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as 24 months after contract award.
2 3
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UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018
enquiries@blueprintsubsea.com
sound by design
News
Multibeam Imaging Sonars
Single and Dual Frequency Operation
Kaombo UK Oil and Gas Authority Projects Noaka Concepts 300m and 4000m Depth Rated
Total has started up production of Kaombo, currently the The Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) has said that the UK is EQUINOR and Aker BP both used the Aker BP concedes that its solution
biggest deep offshore development in Angola. It is located likely to witness a large increase in the number of oil opportunity of the ONS conference would have a longer payback time,
on Block 32, 260km off the coast of Luanda. and gas projects receiving sanctions this year. This could to promote their rival development but would also bring higher potential
number up to 30 projects. So far this year, nine projects, concepts for the North of Alvheim- for long-term value creation.
The Kaombo Norte Floating Production Storage and with combined capital spending of $2.5 billion Krafla-Askja (Noaka) multi-field
Offloading (FPSO) unit has been successfully brought on have been approved so far this year. In comparison, a total development. The two operators Conversely, Equinor's design concept
stream and will produce an estimated 115 000 barrels of of four projects were approved in all of 2017. are fighting to take the lead to was based on two unmanned
oil per day, while the second vessel, the Kaombo Sul, is develop seven discoveries with total wellhead platforms tied back to
expected to start up next year. According to OGA operations director Gunther Newcombe recoverable resources of more than existing infrastructure in the area
at a presentation at the recent ONS 2018 conference in 500 million barrels of oil equivalent. (probably Oseberg field centre) as an
The overall production will reach an estimated 230 000 Stavanger. unmanned remotely operated factory
barrels of oil per day at peak and the associated gas will The pair could come up with an to exploit Krafla-Askja.
be exported to the Angola LNG plant. A total of 59 wells “There is a healthy pipeline of projects with a agreed development concept earlier
will be connected to the two FPSOs, both of which are good start to 2018 with more projects to come,” said this year. Equinor’s senior vice president for
converted Very Large Crude Carriers. Together, they will Newcombe. The end number could be 20 but maybe up to operations technology Kjetil Hove
develop the resources of six different fields (Gengibre, 30 projects. The main reasons are the higher oil price Aker BP, hasa veered towards a new highlighted Krafla-Askja as one of
Gindungo, Caril, Canela, Mostarda and Louro) over an area and the fact that the UK is globally competitive in terms of hub processing and quarters platform the few upcoming projects for the
of 800 km2 in the central and southern part of the block. breakeven costs and cost per barrel in the central part of the area to company in Norway.
Micro-USBL Tracking Beacons
develop its discoveries Fulla, Frigg Bidirectional Acoustic Data Modems
The sector may not have the large volume projects Gamma Delta, Langfjellet, Froy and Equinor has presented Krafla-
but it is still possible to make get good value from projects Rind — as well as exploit Equinor’s Askja as an important part of
Gorgon Stage 2 of about 10 million or 20 million barrels or possibly even Krafla and Askja finds, and redevelop the company’s efforts to increase
TechnipFMC has been awarded a subsea installation less. the abandoned Frigg field. the competitiveness of future
contract by Chevron Australia, for the Gorgon Stage Two projects.
development, located offshore Western Australia in water The projects approved so far this year include Shell’s At a seminar at ONS, the project
depths ranging from 250 to 1340m. Penguins, which involves a new floating production, chief Olav Henriksen said that its This concept would extend the
storage and offloading vessel, as well as Gannet E and proposed solution would fully capture lifetime of Oseberg and require
The contract covers the project management and Fram. discovered resources in the area and lower investments although it would
engineering, transportation, installation and pre- provide the necessary processing recover fewer reserves.
commissioning of umbilicals and flying leads as well In addition, Marathon’s West Brae project, Garten, which capacity to exploit future discoveries,
as manifolds. The award also includes fabrication, is operated by Apache, Nexen’s Buzzard phase two and in line with such requirements from A final investment decision was
transportation, installation and testing of rigid spools. Ballindalloch operated by Total, have also been granted the authorities. originally due on Noaka in early
permission this year. 2019 but has likely been pushed
TechnipFMC will leverage local capabilities as well as He argued the facility would be fully back a year due to the concept
its global state-of-the-art pipelay fleet for the offshore Rounding out the list, Premier Oil’s Tolmount gas powered from shore, with for zero decision delay, with first oil now
campaign. development, which includes a new minimum facilities carbon dioxide emissions expected in 2023.
platform that will be installed in the southern North
Sea, was approved in August.
Portable Sidescan Sonars
SBM Towed, OEM, Hull and Pole Mounted
Esso Guyana has awarded SBM contracts to perform Front
End Engineering and Design (FEED) for a second Floating
Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) for the
Liza development located in the Stabroek block in Guyana.
Following FEED and subject to requisite government
approvals, SBM Offshore will construct, install, lease and
operate the FPSO for a period of up to two years, after
which the FPSO ownership and operation will transfer to
EEPGL. The FPSO will be designed to produce 220,000
4 5
barrels of oil per day, will have associated gas treatment
capacity of 400 million ft3/day and water injection capacity
of 250 000 barrels per day.
The FPSO will be spread moored in water depth of about
1600m and will be able to store around 2 million barrels of Oseberg field centre
Nexen’s Buzzard
crude oil.
find out more
www.blueprintsubsea.com
UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018
News
Increased value creation, more resources and
greater ripple effects from Johan Sverdrup
Equinor has submitted the creation. At the same time, the ripple per day, with a break-even price of resource estimate and the total more than NOK 80 billion. The project An updated analysis from Agenda
development plan for the second effects from the project will be larger less than USD 20 per barrel and very estimated investment for both Phase will yield even greater value creation Kaupang estimates that the
phase of the Johan Sverdrup project than previously estimated. Low CO2 low CO2 emissions of 0,67 kg per 1 and Phase 2 of the development and larger spin-off effects than development of Johan Sverdrup
6 7
to the Norwegian Ministry of emissions make Johan Sverdrup one of barrel. Johan Sverdrup is on track to by an additional NOK 6 billion since previously estimated. Phase 1 and Phase 2 can contribute
Petroleum and Energy. the world’s most carbon-efficient fields. deliver vast volumes of energy with February of this year. more than 150,000 man-years in
high profitability and low emissions for Full field development of Johan Norway in the period from 2015-
With an increased resource estimate “The Johan Sverdrup field is the largest many decades to come,” said Equinor Since the PDO for the first phase in Sverdrup is projected to contribute 2025. In the operations phase, Johan
and lower investment costs, the full field development on the Norwegian CEO, Eldar Sætre. 2015, the company has reduced the more than NOK 900 billion in income Sverdrup may generate employment
field development of Johan Sverdrup shelf since the 1980s. At plateau, the total estimated investment for Johan to the Norwegian State over the of more than 3400 man-years every
will contribute to even greater value field will produce up to 660,000 barrels The company has increased its Sverdrup full field development by lifetime of the field. year.
UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018
News
Shearwater/WesternGeco
Johan Sverdrup Gardline
Scarborough
The Plan for development and operation (PDO) for Wood has been awarded a new contract by Woodside Shearwater GeoServices is to
Johan Sverdrup Phase 2 also includes measures to to support the execution of concept definition for Shearwater to acquire the marine
facilitate power from shore to the Utsira High by 2022, in the proposed Scarborough upstream development, seismic acquisition assets and
accordance with the terms for PDO Phase 1. offshore Western Australia. The Scarborough operations of WesternGeco, the
gas resource is located in the Carnarvon Basin, geophysical services product line of
The updated investment estimate for Phase 1 is now approximately 375km west-north-west of the Burrup Schlumberger.
NOK 86 billion (nominal NOK, project exchange rate), a Peninsula in Western Australia.
reduction of 30 per cent, amounting to NOK 37 billion Shearwater GeoServices will
since submission of the Phase 1 PDO. Estimated to contain 7.3 Tcf of dry gas, Woodside is operate the combined businesses
proposing to develop the resource with 12 subsea, as a global, customer-focused
A number of improved recovery technologies are included high-rate gas wells tied back to a semi-submersible and technology-driven provider
in the plan: platform moored in 900m of water close to the of marine geophysical services.
Scarborough field. Shearwater will own and operate
l Water alternating gas injection (WAG) a fleet of 14 fully equipped seismic
l PRM (permanent reservoir monitoring) for the full Concept definition level engineering associated with vessels offering a full range of
field the floating production unit, subsea umbilicals, risers acquisition services including 3D,
Stepwise implementation of fibre optics in wells and flowlines, flow assurance and overall system 4D and ocean bottom seismic
l Step-by-step development of digital twinning integration of the upstream development, will be (OBS).
l Technologies for automatic drilling control on the delivered by Wood’s specialist field development
drilling platform studies team in Houston, US and Perth, Australia. Under the terms of the agreement,
l High-speed telemetry drill pipe Shearwater will acquire 10 high-
l Improvements in cement quality Wood has also supported Woodside’s Greater end seismic acquisition vessels,
l Virtual rate monitoring on subsea wells Western Flank (GWF-2) project on Australia’s North including seven 3D vessels and
West Shelf from concept development to execution, UK independent 3 Energy has The subsea component of the work three multipurpose vessels (MPVs)
Digitalisation will reinforce the effect of several improved providing detailed design, procurement activities and contracted marine survey company includes the installation of the configured to serve the growing
recovery technologies. Together, this has allowed Equinor engineering support for the subsea pipeline during Gardline Limited to conduct a site trenched production pipeline and OBS market, 12 complete streamer
to increase the resource estimate for Johan Sverdrup, fabrication and construction. survey at its Liberator field located the control umbilical to Well L2. sets with spares, as well as two
while simultaneously raising the ambitions for the field’s in the North Sea as it prepares This is expected to be completed source vessels.
recovery rate to over 70 per cent. In the Phase 2 PDO, the Earlier this year, the company awarded Wood three for submission of its updated betweenQ1 and Q2 2019.
resource estimate for the entire Johan Sverdrup field is contracts to perform subsea and flow assurance development plan later this year. The proposed transaction also
raised from 2.1-3.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent to 2.2- concept studies supporting the proposed SNE field During the drilling phase, the includes WesternGeco proprietary
3.2 billion barrels, with an expected estimate of 2.7 billion development in the Rufisque, Sangomar and Sangomar The survey will cover the two subsea trees will be controlled marine seismic technology, as well
barrels. deep offshore blocks located offshore Senegal. production well locations to be drilled from the drill rig, whilst during as development and manufacturing
during the Phase I development of production the subsea trees will be facilities in Norway and Malaysia.
the Liberator oil field, a survey of the remotely controlled from the Bleo
planned export pipeline route, and the Holm FPSO via control umbilicals.
appraisal well location for the recently
awarded Block 13/23c (Liberator The trees on both wells will Penspen/Crestech
West), i3 explained in a statement on incorporate a Scottish Fishermen’s Penspen and Nigerian engineering
Thursday. Federation (SFF) approved fishing- firm Crestech, have signed their
friendly tree protection structure largest contract to date after
In order to fund this crucial survey similar to those installed over other forming a strategic alliance in
and near-term engineering, i3 in July infrastructure in the area, able to November 2016.
raised $2.1 million through the placing resist loads from potential fishing
of 1,542,336 new ordinary shares at interactions whilst minimising risk The companies have secured a
105 pence per share with existing to fishing vessels. deal with the Nigerian National
institutional investors. Petroleum Company (NNPC) for the
Well L1 will be tied into the Blake provision of project management
The work is expected to start in manifold using a 6in diameter 100m consultancy services across four
September, enabling the company to spool and an approximately 4.5" gas projects in the Niger Delta
8 9
complete its Environmental Statement diameter 100 m control jumper, region, with work already in hand.
and providing the necessary both of which will be surface- The scope of work covers project
engineering and environmental data laid. A 6in production pipeline of management services, as well as
for inclusion in the Liberator Field approximately 2km length will run personnel support, throughout
Development Plan (FDP) for which the between the L2 well and the L1 the duration of the planned gas
Johan Sverdrup field centre phase 1 field centre during company is seeking approval in 1Q well, where it will be tied in to the development, initially expected to
construction, August 2018. Photo: Kjetil Endresen 2019. L1 production spool. be completed by 2020.
UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018
News
Deep Ocean
DeepOcean has been awarded a procurement, fabrication and offshore
contract for marine operations on installation activities. The offshore
Equinor’s Troll Phase 3 project in the work includes installation of two
North Sea. Troll Phase 3 covers the integrated subsea template structures
development of the large gas reserves and manifolds, two foundation
in the western part of the Troll field. structures and PLEMs, installation
of spools, laying of MEG line and
The award to DeepOcean covers umbilical, Tie-in’s and commissioning
project management, engineering, activities.
10 11
UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018
News
The Return of
the Spirit
After returning from Norway
to carry out installation work
for Equinor Alleas' Pioneering
Spirit resumed pipelaying of
the second offshore string (Line
2) for the TurkStream offshore
gas pipeline towards Kiyikoy in
Turkey.
Entering the Black Sea, the
Pioneering Spirit completed a set
of preparatory works, including
lowering of the stinger and re-
testing of pipelay equipment.
The pipeline head of the second
string was recovered from the
bottom of the Black Sea on the
border of Russian and Turkish
Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ)
at a depth of 2,170 meters. This
pipeline section up to the EEZ
border at kilometrepoint 224 was
installed in 2017.
Line 1 completed in April
In April 2018, the pipelay for Line
1 of the TurkStream offshore gas
pipeline was already completed.
Calculated over the two lines, a
total of 1,161 km of pipes has
been laid so far. This corresponds
to 62% of the combined offshore
gas pipeline length.
12 13
UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018
News
Snorre
14 15
The Ministry of Petroleum and barrels and extend the field life gas injection and gas import for 2040, and the recovery rate increases the fabrication and installation of the
Energy has approved the plan for beyond 2040. injection. from 46 to 51 %. pipeline bundle.
development and operation (PDO)
for the Snorre Expansion Project. The project involves a comprehensive Snorre was originally estimated to The contract for the subsea
It will increase recovery from the subsea development, upgrading of produce until 2011–2014. Now the production system has gone to
Snorre field by almost 200 million the Snorre A installation, increased field life has been extended beyond TechnipFMC while Subsea 7 won
UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018
News
THEFUTURE IKM SUBSEA DELIVERS
OF ROV TECHNOLOGY IKM Subsea
• R-ROV
• E-ROV
Standard for Thermoplastic Composite Pipes Magma-Equinor • ONSHORE CONTROL CENTER
DNV GL has launched a new standard the whole supply chain; from polymer Magma Global, manufacturer
that allows operators to choose producers, via TCP manufacturers, to of carbon-fibre composite pipe,
thermoplastic composite pipes oil companies as the end users. has announced a joint initiative
(TCP) instead of steel or traditional with Equinor, previously Statoil,
flexibles, enabling substantial cost The document went through rigorous to qualify an all-Magma solution ADVANTAGES
reductions throughout the project internal DNV GL and external hearing for jumpers, initially envisaged for • COST SAVINGS
lifecycle. rounds and more than 700 comments use in Norway.
were collected from the industry to
• INCREASED EFFICIENCY
After the successful and wide ensure the thoroughness and quality This secures the £10.5m project • NO WAITING ON WEATHER
adaptation of the recommended of DNVGL-RP-F119. In December being supported by Innovate • REDUCED HSE RISK
practice (RP) DNVGL-RP-F119 by 2017, a small revision of the RP was UK and will be a step towards
the industry for qualification of conducted based on feedback from fulfilling Magma’s vision of • REDUCED CARBON FOOTPRINT
TCP for various applications from the industry.” owning the fluid transfer
dynamic to static applications since infrastructure from seabed to
its publication in 2015, the RP has Since its publication, the RP has been surface.
now been converted to an official the only available document for
DNV GL standard DNVGL-ST-F119. qualification of TCP in the industry and Charles Tavner, COO at Magma
This reflects the growing confidence has been used in almost all of the TCP Global, said: “There is no doubt in IKM Subsea has for years been known for its quality, leading edge technology and cost efficient solutions.
in the TCP technology and the pilot projects across the globe. The our minds that the future subsea Our vast subsea experience and unique technology enables us to deliver innovative solutions.
methodology of RP to deliver safe design and qualification methodology infrastructure will be dominated High quality products and services are combined with efficient operations and competitive pricing.
and reliable performance to the of the RP has been adopted by all by carbon-fibre composites.
industry. manufacturers of TCP as well as
developers of hybrid flexible pipes in "We have seen acceptance of
Almost a decade after the which the pressure armour within a this from large contractors, each
manufacturing of the first conventional steel-based flexible is developing their own solution
Thermoplastic Composite Pipes, this replaced by TCP. using m-pipe, which is a natural
novel non-metallic pipe concept is
increasingly gaining the attention of The next step for DNV GL is to help the
adoption path.
Subsea Innovation SES Z-Boat Reseller
the Oil and Gas industry. Spoolability, industry identify attractive applications This initiative will fast forward the
significantly lower weight to strength and support stakeholders through the delivery of an all-Magma solution, The Tekmar Group, provider of Teledyne Marine has added Survey
protection systems for subsea Equipment Services (SES) out of Z-Boat
ratio compared to conventional decision process. An upcoming DNV thanks to funding support from
metallic pipes and the absence of GL type approval scheme being issued Innovate UK and Equinor’s cable, umbilical and flexible pipes Katy, TX, as the first authorized
corrosion, make TCP a potentially later this year will make it easier for vision and understanding of and offshore engineering services, Value Added Reseller (VAR) under
disruptive technology in the pipeline engineers to design pipeline systems how they can best use available has acquired Subsea Innovation Teledyne Oceanscience for the
industry. Various pilot projects using TCP. technologies.” Z-Boat 1800 unmanned surface
with different operators have been Subsea Innovation is involved in vessel.
initiated in the past few years to use the in the design, manufacture
TCP in offshore oil and gas projects to and supply of complex engineered SES has a successful history of
cut cost and increase efficiency. Magma m-pipe equipment and technology used in selling and supporting the Teledyne
the offshore energy market. Oceanscience Z-Boat 1800 and
Throughout this time DNV GL has is now under agreement with
played the role of an independent Its products range from large Teledyne to integrate and support
certification body for TCP to facilitate equipment handling systems which new technologies and sensors on
the adaptation of the technology operate on the back of installation the Z-Boat 1800 that are beyond the
by the industry, while ensuring vessels, pipeline repair clamps standard sensor suite offered by the performing sensor like the Sonic
the reliability and safety targets which protect major oil and gas company. 2020". Additional instrumentation
comparable to conventional metallic pipelines, and equipment for the integrations are planned and will
pipes. construction of offshore oil and gas “ We are pleased to see the be announced as they become
projects. R2Sonic 2020 as the first successful available.
Ramin Moslemian, Principal integration under the new VAR
16 17
Specialist in DNV GL – Oil & Gas The business also has an extremely agreement with SES", stated Jamie Users can expect to see
explains further “In 2015 the skilled engineering design team Carrig, Global Head of Sales. multibeams, single beams, sub
recommended practice DNVGL- who develop world-leading bottom profilers, magnetometers,
RP-F119 for design and qualification concepts for some of the world’s “We are confident that many swath bathymetry, side scan
of TCP was developed through a most challenging and exciting multibeam users have been waiting sonars, 2D/3D sonars, and more
DNV GL-led joint industry project projects. for a superior boat platform such as available through the new VAR
involving 18 companies covering the Z-Boat 1800 to support a high agreement with SES.
UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018
News
Marine robot provides tantalising evidence for deep-diving whales in areas targeted for deep-sea mining
A new study led by the National revealed that the depressions were not randomly distributed,
Oceanography Centre (NOC) and or occurring in isolation, but formed curvilinear features, or
the University of Southampton has “tracks”, that almost looked like footprints.”
revealed a series of depressions
forming mysterious “tracks” on the In total over 3539 individual depressions were detected (in an
seafloor, which may be an unprece- area roughly the size of central London), to a maximum water
dented record of deep-diving whales. depth of 4258 m (just over 2.5 miles). Although the research-
ers have not directly observed the “tracks” being made, these
The observations were made by a markings are comparable to those detected in other areas of
type of marine robot called an auton- the world’s oceans attributed to deep-diving whales. If the
omous underwater vehicle (AUV) in a tracks are indeed made by a whale, they would extend the
region of the Pacific Ocean targeted known maximum dive depth of a marine mammal by over
for deep-sea nodule mining. 1000 m.
At first, these tracks perplexed the Deep-diving whales – such as beaked whales or sperm whales
researchers. They were not related to – are the most specialised and least understood of all marine
mining or scientific operations within mammals. They are inconspicuous and elusive deep divers,
the area; they appeared too large surfacing only briefly to breathe. Much of what is known about
to be created by fish or any other these whales has been gleaned from stranded specimens or
typical deep-sea animals; and they material from museum collections, and as such, there is very
were not thought to be formed by little knowledge regarding their behaviour, habitat preferences
geological processes, such as gas or or diets.
fluid seepage; However, these tracks
did resemble those observed in other Beaked whales have been reported to make similar markings
regions of the world’s oceans attrib- on deep-sea mud volcanoes and, historically, there are reports
uted to whales, leading the research- of sperm whales ploughing the deep seafloor and getting
ers to suggest that a deep-diving entangled in telecommunication cables. In shallower waters,
whale is the likely perpetrator. on the continental shelf, other species of whale are known to
utilise the seafloor for feeding or removing dead skin, however,
In 2015, the RRS James Cook visited in the deep ocean, it is still unclear why whales would make
the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ), such marks.
with a mission to characterise the
habitats and species within the CCZ. Dr Daniel Jones, Principal Investigator of the MIDAS program
The expedition used the Auto- at NOC and the principal scientist on the research expedition
sub6000 AUV along with a suite of commented: “This intriguing observation highlights our imper-
other data collection methods to fect knowledge of this deep-water environment and conse-
form an environmental baseline quently the need for care in developing in developing appropri-
for this area. When processing the ate management strategies for potential deep-sea mining.”
side-scan sonar data, the research
team noticed a series of depressions Dr Marsh concluded: “Like many discoveries in ocean explora-
on the seafloor that could not always tion, these findings were totally unplanned, and resulted from
be detected or resolved in any of novel application of new technology. The next step would be
the other AUV data, including the to provide more conclusive evidence that whales are mak-
photography. ings these tracks – in the future, we hope to be able to use
an ROV to sample the sediments in the tracks and use eDNA
Commenting on the discovery, lead techniques to see whether or not any whale skin cells are pre-
author Dr Leigh Marsh explains: “Si- sent. However, electronic depth-tags, attached to the animals
descan sonar uses an acoustic beam themselves, will provide direct evidence that whales can dive
from each side of the AUV to map to these abyssal depths.”
the shape and texture of large areas
18 19
of the seafloor – this technology is This research was published in Royal Society Open Science and
used in archaeological surveys to find was funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Pro-
objects such as shipwrecks or debris. gramme (FP7/2007-2013) under the MIDAS (Managing Impacts
The processed images are extremely of Deep-seA reSource exploitation) project, grant agreement
effective at detecting objects on the 603418. Funding was also provided from the UK Natural Envi-
Image provided from the oblique camera from Autosub6000 Mission 79 (M79) within the APEI shows two depressions, inferred to be those also observed from acoustic
seafloor, or in this case, a series of ronment Research Council (NERC) through National Capability
data. White dashed line indicates an area where sediment from the excavation has subsequently covered nodules within the vicinity. Eroded edges would suggest that
holes or depressions. Further analysis funding to NOC.
these particular depressions have not been made in recent years. Depth: 4153 m. Credit: Marsh et al., 2018
UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018News MERMAC A
Foldable launch and recovery system
10 Contracts for MMT Kongsberg/Imenco Cameras
MMT has during the past two
months received 10 new subsea
survey and inspection projects
within the offshore wind, renewable NORSOK compliant
energy and oil and gas industry.
MMT is proud to present a wide
profolio of old and new clients such
as Siccar Point Energy, Equinor,
Perenco, SSE, Örsted, Vattenfall,
GreenLink Interconnector, National DNV certified
Grid, Wintershall and BP Trinidad.
Working for these companies
confirms MMT’s capabilities of
being a qualified provider of Kongsberg Maritime, has entered
services ranging from traditional into an agreement to sell its business For Imenco the acquisition is a step
geophysical surveys to UXO within subsea cameras and harsh towards becoming a market leader
inspection and excavation, 2d environment CCTV systems to in advanced underwater camera
seismic and ROV inspections. Imenco. Imenco has delivered subsea technology. It has the last few years
cameras for more than 25 years to developed a new and unique series
Some of the contracts are in the offshore-, research- and subsea of IP based cameras for subsea
joint collaboration with MMT’s markets. applications within different markets Low weight
Norwegian partner Reach Subsea.
from Oil & Gas to Aquaculture.
MMT is particularly pleased to The divestment is part of
deliver our cost effective survey KONGSBERG’s continuous work This acquisition widens the Imenco
solution Surveyor Interceptor ROV to adjust and focus the business portfolio under water and adds high
in several projects this summer and portfolios in the different business technology CCTV camera systems to
autumn. areas. the product range.
Oceangate/Island Offshore
OceanGate Expeditions, provider of offshore crew and personnel to Vessels are all complete with private
manned submersible and speciality support the OceanGate Expeditions sleeping quarters for everyone on
expeditions, has selected Island team and help accomplish the mission board, offers various spacious and
Offshore, an operator of offshore objectives. comfortable spaces for collaboration,
subsea service vessels, as their research, and relaxation.
preferred partner for deep sea The chosen Island Offshore vessel,
exploration. scheduled to depart from St. John’s, Equipped with a commercial grade
Newfoundland in June 2019, will serve kitchen, gym, medical room and
As part of the agreement, a vessel as the topside support ship for the first various lounge spaces, each vessel
from Island Offshore’s fleet of subsea manned submersible mission to the is perfectly suited to serve both the
construction and accommodation RMS Titanic since 2005. scientific objectives of the mission, Extensive telescopic Fast and flexible Ultra compact for
vessels will be used as the primary as well as the needs of the crew and reach deployment road transport
topside support vessel for the 2019 The six-week expedition will explore participating mission specialists.
Titanic Survey Expedition. and map the wreck located nearly 400
miles off the coast of Newfoundland The large, built-in helipad on the
20 21
As per the agreement, OceanGate in the North Atlantic. The Island vessels makes it possible to efficiently
will grant first right of refusal to Offshore vessel will house over 35 transport mission specialists
Island Offshore on all deep sea expedition crew members, mission and crew to and from St. John’s,
expeditions over the next five years specialists, researchers, and scientists Newfoundland. Helicopter flights
that require a commercial grade
and classed support vessel. Island
for the duration of the expedition.
Island Offshore’s fleet of Subsea
maximize time spent at the dive site,
by reducing travel time motoring to
MacArtney global solutions
Offshore will provide suitable ships, Construction and Accommodation and from shore.
Denmark Norway Sweden United Kingdom France Germany
Netherlands USA Canada Chile Singapore China Australia MacArtney Group
1978 - 2018
UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018Risers
Vibration-Deterrent Risers
Aberdeen-based Balmoral Offshore wing that self-orients downcurrent. “I had been privately considering this “I began to look at Fraser’s “We have carried out
Engineering has turned to animal These are often used in high current challenge for quite some time and idea of turtle shell our first round of
morphology for inspiration when regimes, such as the loop currents of had been particularly interested in morphology and marry it prototype testing at
designing a new generation of the Gulf of Mexico, to streamline the looking for non-industry analogues. to structural engineered the world-renowned
drill riser buoyancy modules that flow around the tubulars. The reason designs,” said Dr Aneel SINTEF OCEAN research base in
are capable of suppressing vortex that they are preferred to strakes in "One theme that I kept revisiting, Gill, senior design and Trondheim and it has already produced
induced vibration. some applications, is because they can was how marine animals were rarely development engineer. promising results with good drag and
be removed. This makes them more affected by flow issues. Marine vibration figures.
Vortex induced vibration (VIV) is suitable for applications such as drilling animals have developed to perfect “A typical turtle’s
now a relatively well understood risers. both the optimum shapes and carapace consists of a could “We began by testing a model cylinder
branch of flow dynamics. When a biological materials to successfully number of polygonal easily exceed at half scale – some of the largest
flowing fluid comes into contact There are two main drawbacks to exploit a range of habitats. dermal plates fused a rig’s holdback tests to date – in order to get the
with a cylinder, it slows down and using fairings. to form a hard capacity. background benchmark. We carried
the friction immediately forms a “We talked about coverings featuring shell. out the same tests using a grooved
boundary layer. Because of the The first is that removing the fairings microstructures that exhibited novel "Based on this biomimetic facsimile in order to measure the
curvature of the cylinder, this quickly is very labour intensive and slows flow behaviour such as sharkskin "Some of these concept, we designed a relative improvements.
separates. In doing so, this changes down the drilling riser removal process but soon recognised that the have ridged micro structure of deepened
the pressure distribution, setting up a considerably. Any system that can microstructure would be difficult to structures and some indented grooves carved "It showed really promising results.
vibration in the cylinder body as the optimise this process, or in this case replicate in a large scale industrial haven’t, but all of them have into the foam that
vortices are shed first one side and totally obviate it, could save hundreds environment. grooves between the dermal plates separated large polygonal “The testing went very well but we
then the other. of thousands of dollars in lost rig time. and we realised that this was the shapes, and carried think there is more in it so we are
"We then started to look at larger property that was more likely to out tests in-house. This doing a refinement process. We are
In the oil and gas industry, this is a The second is that in order to work, scale coverings and I conjectured was followed by a programme of back in at the end of the year at
common occurrence where currents fairings have to reside in the current looking at the carapace of a external research to see if this had SINTEF. Because of the size of testing
pass by a riser or an underwater flow and as such, they must be chelonian such as a turtle or terrapin. any potential vibration-reducing equipment to best represent real
tubular. It can be calculated as a connected to weathervaning collars. As the numerous ideas were filtered properties." world situations, a major drawback has
function of both fluid velocity and In some cases, however, the bearings down and excluded, we eventually been the availability of facilities to test
the mass/frequency of the system. enabling this rotation sometimes seize. selected this as the primary option Two Proposals the model
Without any preventative action, Unable to rotate, these can introduce from which to carry out further One offering proposed by
the tubulars will eventually fail due considerable amounts of drag on the investigation. Balmoral is an entirely new “We have tested the design at
to fatigue. The preventative solution system as they resist the flow. drill riser buoyancy module Reynolds number ranges of over a
that the subsea industry often featuring the new patterned million, because it is in these flow
favours, is to incorporate either Speaking to their customers, the grooves moulded into the rigid regimes that the design is likely to
helical strakes or fairings onto the designers at Balmoral set up a GRP buoyancy covering. be used, ” said Dr Gill. "A Reynolds
tubular to disrupt the flow. working group to look deeper into this number is an important dimensionless
problem. The aim was to develop riser The company recognises that quantity in fluid mechanics used to
The helical strakes are fins typically buoyancy modules that did not have many operators would have already help predict flow patterns in different
located 120deg apart around the to be removed when handling a bought risers and, therefore, would fluid flow situations.
circumference of the riser or even a drilling riser, and that did not not be keen to discard them to
spar hull which break up the vortices rely on weathervaning or any buy a new string, so the second “The VIV strake is the perfect solution,”
and create random forces along the other mechanical movement. product that Balmoral is offering is concluded Milne. “We are already
length of the tubular. These strakes a soft polyurethane skin that can be close to that, but we want to get
are permanently fixed onto the "We organised a retrofitted onto existing risers. closer and as such, will be looking
tubulars and are, therefore, normally brainstorming session in which at changing variables such as sizes,
restricted to production risers or everyone could contribute even Fraser Milne says: “The covering can angles, gaps and seeing how that
tubular hulls etc, that typically stay improbable ideas in a highly supportive be quite soft, because it is simply works on pipes of different sizes.
in position throughout the life of the atmosphere,” said Fraser Milne, the covering an existing riser and not
structure. company’s engineering and projects There are two options subject to large loading. We envisage “We are not, however, going to
director. “There were no bad ideas. - a patterned riser or a that the skin will be around 2in thick release data yet. We want to gather
Fairings, however, are broadly similar patterned covering to an influence stability when the turtle was and be made available in half-shell the second round of data before we
22 23
in that they disperse the vortices "We came up with a wide number of existing riser swimming against a current. modules that can be attached to the publish. In parallel, we are doing some
that cause the oscillations, however, imaginative proposals ranging from riser body using the bolt holes that small scale testing ourselves as well as
these are designed to rotate freely corkscrews to shark fins. We set these “Subsea risers already have a syntactic already exist. some CFD work refining the process.
around the tubular. Not quite as ideas against practical aspects to be buoyancy foam covering to offset the After final testing, we will look at
efficient as strakes, these drag- considered: Was it stackable? Was weight of the tubular. This becomes "We will simply supply longer bolts. commercialising it. We also plan to
reduction bodies typically consist it something you could mould? How very important in deepwater risers We listened to our customers and extend the system into our portfolio of
of a rotating collar attached to a could it be handled in the field? where the weight of a 3000m string kept it simple. other products where suitable."
Stril Explorer
UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018Risers
FlexIQ Pre-FEED for INPEX SURF & GEP Measurement-based Wellhead Fatigue
FlexIQ, a partnership between engineering consultancy layers through the outer sheath of the flexible riser. Chiyoda and PT Synergy have been awarded a Pre-FEED Riser and conductor specialists 2H Offshore has launched
INTECSEA and inspection provider Innospection, has contract by INPEX for the SURF (Subsea Umbilicals the Measurement-based Wellhead Fatigue Joint Industry
achieved an oil and gas industry first. This technology can be deployed on long riser sections and Risers and Flowlines) and GEP (Gas Export Pipeline) Project (JIP). This will see 2H Offshore work with operators to
is uniquely able to detect defects within multiple layers facilities of the Abadi LNG Project in Indonesia. improve riser, wellhead and conductor fatigue estimates and
The collaborative effort now provides life extension regardless of the annulus condition. make drilling operations more reliable and efficient.
evaluation for flexible risers using a fully simulation-based INPEX is undertaking Pre-FEED studies for the Abadi
irregular wave fatigue assessment advised by inspection • FLEXAS offers the only solution framework available in the field development in the Masela Block, located in The project aims to provide a measurement-based
data, establishing a step change in technology. This industry that computes irregular wave wire stresses using the Arafura Sea, with an onshore concept, under the foundation for drilling riser system modelling to ensure that
approach has been successfully used for Shell Nigeria’s dynamic simulation of high-fidelity finite element models. supervision of The Indonesia Government Special Task riser, wellhead and conductor fatigue damage can be more
two Bonga flexible risers. This eliminates approximations and uncertainties associated Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities. accurately assessed.
with non-simulation based approaches.
Naren Ramaiah, Head of Pipeline & Integrity, Shell Nigeria Under the terms of the contract, the companies Field data from 18 operators and drilling contractors in nine
said: “Our offloading system is configured with flexible This solution includes detailed damage modelling from will jointly use their technically and commercially regions worldwide and water depths ranging from 200m to
pipelines which are designed for onerous loadings and inspection data to produce the industry’s most accurate wire competitive resources to provide INPEX with various 1700m has been gathered. 2H will apply its proven analytics
stresses. Assessing and assuring its integrity regularly is stress computation. engineering, safety and cost studies, as well as methodology to reduce conservatism, or otherwise, in riser
very important for our safe operations.” development of the future FEED scope of work, as a and wellhead wave and VIV fatigue loading predictions using
Shell Nigeria commissioned the FlexIQ team via Pre-FEED package for the SURF and GEP facilities. field data.
This technique combines two proprietary technologies: Innospection’s partner FADFAE Engineering Services, to
the MEC-FIT inspection tool and the FLEXAS numerical determine the current condition of its flexible risers and Xodus and Subsea 7 will deploy their specialised The findings will improve the accuracy of future wellhead
solver, which allow high-resolution stochastic fatigue life provide recommendations for the future safe operation of capability for specific studies as nominated fatigue assessments and eliminate unnecessary upgrades to
to be captured based on realistic conditions. subcontractors. improve predicted fatigue.
• MEC-FIT enables inspection of the tensile armour wire
the Bonga Oil Offloading Risers
located offshore Nigeria. Bonga has Draugen Riser Composite Risers
been producing since 2005, and Petroleum Safety Authority The Dutch composite pipeline
the risers are currently 15 years (PSA) Norway has carried out manufacturer Airborne Oil & Gas
into their original 20-year design an audit of Norske Shell focused is understood to have commenced
life. on the replacement of flexible started a qualification of a TCP
risers on the Draugen field in the riser for deepwater and dynamic
FlexIQ has been used to re- Norwegian Sea. applications for an operator in
evaluate the design life and South America, in collaboration with
determine the suitability for life The object of the audit was minority shareholders, Subsea 7.
extension of the risers. to verify that the new flexible
risers for Draugen were The TCP riser qualification
TheMEC-FIT inspections detected designed and manufactured in programme, believed to be a world
Finite Element Analysis model no wire corrosion damage, leading compliance with the company’s first for fully bonded composite
to the FLEXAS irregular wave requirements and statutory risers. According to the company, its
simulations predicting low rates of regulations. TCP riser design delivers the lowest
fatigue accumulation. cost solution for total installation in
Topics of the audit included comparison to existing solutions.
Embedding the inspection and status and plans, risk handling,
analysis results into a risk based involvement of operations,
framework enabledoperational governing documents, analyses,
risk to be quantified. The analysis non-conformity handling, follow-
predicted safe and reliable up of suppliers, verification
operation of the assets well activities, learning and
beyond the original design life. documentation.
24 25
Dr. Kirsten Oliver, Asset The audit identified no
Management Lead for INTECSEA regulatory non-conformities, but
stated: “We are delighted to have two improvement points. These
used innovative technology to concerned the areas of risk
give Shell Nigeria the confidence management and investigations
MEC-HUG Crawler Tool awaiting deployment on the Marine Bonga BOOR Fatigue Spectra and understanding to continue and continuous improvement,
Platforms ROV Vessel – African Vision operating its risers.” the PSA said. TCP riser qualification
UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018Resident E-ROV
IKM's R-ROV
Early this year, a warning rang out “We first came up with the idea for a differentiating the two. We have made design, however, was from where to entirely new concept of remotely The R-ROV uses an astounding
across the Tannoy on Statoil’s (now resident ROV many years ago, and in modifications to the manipulators and control it." controlling the vehicle from shore. 1000m tether, giving a 2000m
Equinor) Snorre B platform in the fact, we approached Statoil with the with the cabling connectors, but the In 2017, the game-changing working diameter. This is because
North Sea, cautioning personnel not concept. After presenting our ideas, two vehicles look virtually identical. Obviating the use of an support development work culminated in Equinor wished to reach their
to venture outside as there were they responded by adding their own vessel reluctantly meant that IKM's what IKM believe was the world’s furthest wells. Remarkably,
20m waves breaking against the side ideas and potential requirements. only alternative was to install the first commercial onshore controlled even having to carry power to
of the semisubmersible platform. At "The Merlin UCV has been in operation control station on the platform ROV operations of its type. the vehicle, the tether is not a
the time, IKM was carrying out sea This soon developed into an in-depth for many years, its systems are field itself, where space was limited. This particularly large diameter. It is
trials of its new ROV system. mutually instructive dialogue and a proven and we needed to call upon part-fuelled the drive to establish an The project will see to three Work neutrally buoyant in water so that
couple of years later, in the summer of that reliability. One of the challenges class ROVs and an Observation ROV it can be pulled long distances.
At any other time, these adverse 2016, they awarded us a breakthrough that we did find potentially difficult on Statoil’s Snorre B and Visund
conditions would have hampered NOK0.75 billion ten-year contract for to meet when first considering the installations being controlled from “Because the R-ROV is of an
the operations and they might have ROV and subsea services for Statoil's IKM Subsea’s onshore control center electric workclass design, it is
been cancelled because of the Visund and Snorre B assets," said from the dual control room at able to carry out wide a range of
potential challenges in retrieving Hestnes. Bryne, Stavanger. The staffing of the operations with using manipulators
the vehicle to the surface. operations will be performed by a and subsea tooling. It has already
This contract would encompass four combination of both onshore been used for valve operations,
In this instance, however, the ROV ROVs, one of which was to be the new and offshore personnel inspection, cutting operations and
was safely sitting in its garage on the residential design. IKM immediately 24 hours a day opening hatches. It is possible to
sea floor unaffected by the weather enlarged the concept study, basing throughout the year. lower tools into the stand near the
300m above. Meanwhile, the ROV the resident design on its Merlin garage, and the ROV can use them
pilots were in the relative comfort UCV (ultra compact vehicle) electric “The R-ROV immediately.
of the shore control room south of workclass ROV . has now been in
Stavanger. operation since “Because the R-ROV will not be
“If you looked at the Merlin UCV and mid-January. In its recovered for months, we have
Ironically, rather than being a the residential version together, an first operation, it to make sure we monitor all
problem, this displayed the intrinsic untrained eye would have difficulty was submerged for parameters closely and detect
advantages of having a residential 50 days. Since then, issues before they become
ROV. it has been used problems.
most days,"said
“A Residential ROV ( R-ROV) can Hestnes. With sensors located at strategic
be described as a permanently points , we can monitor functions
subsea-installed underwater vehicle “Like all ROVs, it throughout the vehicle such as
that would usually be garaged on requires a power temperature pressure and oil
the seabed rather than be deployed source and a quality. We even have the capacity
from a dedicated support vessel, or two-way data link that if we see that we are starting
take up valuable platform space," for control and to get dirt or water particles in
said operations director at IKM, imaging. In this the oil, we can remotely flush
Jan Vegard Hestnes. It can confer Resident ROV in case, platform the oil out and refill subsea," said
considerable operational cost an underground power and Hestnes.
savings, particularly compared with garage communications
typical existing ROV projects." signals from the As operational data is collected and
Snorre B semi- analysed, IKM plan to see how to
The R-ROV should be thought of submersible are maximise its operational use.
a precision tool and best suited to run down by an
specific tasks rather than routine umbilical cable to the “We have a target of keeping
work. If the work consistently subsea garage, and via the the vehicle resident for 90 days
requires significant amounts of tether management system, to at first, extending this time with
heavy tooling being put on the the vehicle. experience. As part of the next
vehicle every day, for example, then wave of developments, we also
26 27
a resident ROV isn’t the right vehicle "The platform communicates with plan to incorporate a skid.
and a standard work class ROV may the onshore at Bryne via Internet or
be a better solution. For observation fibre lines and a radio link from one We already have made room in
and light workclass duties, however, of the platforms to the other. Quite the garage for a skid and envisage a
it confers a number of advantages, a few platforms in Norway have fibre system in which the ROV can select
particularly economic, as well as IKM's underwater lines. Failing that, it can be operated from one or more skids depending
offers a higher rate of availability. garage by 4G mobile broadband." upon the work," said Hestnes
UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018News
28 29
UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018 UT2 Issue 4 Sept 2018AP 7
PL SEP
IC TEM
AT B
IMR contract to IKM Subsea
IO ER
NS 201
Subsea Inspection and Light
CL 8
Intervention contract award from
OS
Aker BP to IKM Subsea.
E
Aker BP has awarded IKM Subsea
an ad-hoc call of agreement for
light IMR services on the Norwegian
continental shelf. The duration
of the contract is 3 years with
additional 6 years of options. IKM
Subsea Forum Subsea will provide onshore project
management, engineering, tooling
preparation and offshore operations
Call For Speakers
utilizing its Merlin ROV fleet.
In partnership with the Society for Underwater Technology (SUT), Subsea Energy Australia (SEA) and
Subsea UK the AOG Subsea Forum is a free-to-attend conference that addresses the latest trends,
issues and developments in the Australian subsea industry.
Held over three days in a theatre on the AOG exhibition floor, the Subsea Forum is the largest gathering
of subsea professionals in Australia.
Topics Evaluation Criteria
We are seeking submissions on the following topics: • Submissions referring to case studies will be highly
regarded.
• Long distance tiebacks
• Prior to submission, company and joint venture
• Subsea geoscience clearance must be obtained. Any perceived
problems concerning clearance should be outlined
• Decommissioning
when the paper proposal is submitted.
• Life extension
• Ideally your submission will not have been
• Offshore renewable energy presented before and should contain
new information.
Thanks to the generosity of our hosts and sponsors, delegate attendance will be complimentary.
Submissions are due by Friday 7 September via aogexpo.com.au/call-for-speakers
Queries can be directed to the Submission Coordinator by email at aog@divevents.com.au
30 31
or phone +61 8 6467 7640
Sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities contact: aog@divevents.com.au
Hosted by Platinum Sponsor
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