Member Article

Offshore engineers to deliver heavy weather systems

Northumberland-based offshore engineers are working on a multi-million pound contract to deliver specialist kit which will be used on a Singapore rig.

OSBIT Power, a leading North East subsea engineering and technology company, has been challenged to deliver heavy weather ROV launch and recovery systems (LARS) for Aberdeen-based Helix Well Ops.

The LARS will be installed into the Q7000, Helix’s new semi-submersible light well intervention rig being built in Singapore.

OSBIT, based in Riding Mill, has to meet challenging space constraints and a need to operate in severe weather conditions to deliver the project.

“We have worked very closely with Helix’s engineers to ensure the systems will provide reliable operation in harsh conditions while meeting the packaging constraints within the hangars,” said OSBIT engineer Steve Binney.

“Our expertise in developing practical and reliable solutions within challenging constraints has been invaluable in engineering a system that meets the demanding operational requirements of Helix, within a very limited space.”

Among other design drivers, OSBIT’s solution has to fit within the below-deck ROV hangars onboard the Q7000 and cope with operations in up to 5m Hs conditions.

To cope with the potentially severe weather, each deployment system includes a fast- acting Active Heave Compensated umbilical winch to allow for wide weather windows when deploying and retracting the ROV and TMS from the cursor system.

Mounted on guidewires, the cursor provides positive down force when deploying the ROVs through the moonpool and down through the splash zone to prevent damage to the ROV and TMS during deployment.

OSBIT Managing Director Tony Trapp added: “OSBIT has grown rapidly in for four years, and our engineers have spent many decades supplying highly-complex offshore, subsea and military systems.

“That experience is invaluable when delivering projects such as these, and with our well established supply chain in the North East of England, we can manufacture the most high performance and reliable offshore equipment available anywhere in the world.”

A recent wave of 23 orders over nine months, bringing in more than £10m, means OSBIT will soon take its workforce from 35 to around 43.

The company already has a strong track record with Helix.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Walker .