Subsea contractors are fully stretched keeping pace with global activity, so much so that in some regions, development schedules are slipping due to a shortage of vessels and equipment.
One company sailing to the rescue is Oceanteam Power & Umbilical (Oceanteam P&U). Over the next five years, the Bergen-, Aberdeen-, and Amsterdam-based contractor aims to introduce at least five new subsea flexible product lay/construction vessels to the market. All are being designed to handle flexibles and small diameter steel pipelines, power cables and umbilicals, and lightweight equipment installations.
The initial focus will be mainly on northwest Europe, a sector increasingly sustained by shorter subsea step-outs. To this end, the company established an operational center in Aberdeen last spring. It also is setting up an equipment base 64 km (40 mi) down the Scottish east coast in Dundee. The facility will include a deepwater berth, warehouse, and workshop.
Parent group Oceanteam was formed in 1998 as an inspection, repair, and maintenance specialist serving Pemex offshore Mexico. Following a merger in 2005 with another Norwegian contractor, Deep Ocean AS, the new organization was renamed and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange as Deep Ocean ASA. The installation operation then was spun out of the merger as a stand-alone company.
The Oceanteam management has successfully pursued its wider subsea ambitions, commissioning the build of its first new multi-purpose vessel, theNorth Ocean 101. Currently, this and two sister vessels are under construction at the Metal Ships & Docks yard in Vigo, northwest Spain. The North Ocean 101, is due to be delivered in 3Q 2007, followed by the North Ocean 2 early in 2008, and the North Ocean 3 a few months later.
In November, the company also secured options with the same yard for two more ships, which could be available during 2010-11. Funding for these investments has come via a share issue of $37.4 million, and a bond issue with a loan amount of $65.4 million. Oceanteam P&U is in the process of listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
Pipelay/crane spread
The North Ocean 100 series of vessels, designed in Norway, are equipped with a range of crane capacities and deck layouts. This summer, the company contracted The Engineering Business in Newcastle, UK, to provide the first modular flexible product lay spread for theNorth Ocean series of vessels, comprising a 7,000 metric ton (7,716 ton) capacity carousel, cable handling equipment, an overboarding system, and an integrated control system. Installation equipment will include two four-track, 120 metric ton (132 ton) capacity tensioners. The vessel’s two 100 metric ton (110 ton) cranes are both heave compensated.
North Ocean 102, ordered this September, will be broadly similar to North Ocean 101, with a length of 137 m (450 ft), a breadth of 27 m (89 ft), and a deadweight of 10,000 metric tons (11,023 tons). “All the 100 series vessels are designed to accommodate the Oceanteam Power and Umbilical modular lay spread or to operate with clear decks in construction mode,” says a company spokesman. The 101 has 2,000 sq m (21,528 sq ft) of free deck area, and two 100 metric ton (110 ton), heave-compensated cranes, The larger 102 & 103 have 2,400 sq m (25,833 sq ft)of free deck, allowing them to load, transport, and install up to 7,000 metric tons ( 7,716 ton) of product, at a transit speed of up to 15 kt.
Artists’ impression of the support vesselNorth Ocean 103.
The company’s plan is that all the vessels should be equipped with heave-compensated cranes and a helideck, with the flexibility of three separate crane positions. Standard carnage design capacity will be 100-250 metric tons (110-275 tons), with the option of going up to 400 metric tons (440 tons), providing light subsea installation capability.
Alternatively, lightweight structures can be lowered and retrieved via a modular handling system placed over the vessel’s moonpool. All the vessels will feature full DP2-class positioning systems with the option of upgrading to DP3 operations.
Oceanteam P&U plans further investments in complementary trenching equipment and ploughs. The company has upgraded its Oceanjet 900 tracked trenching vehicle which is designed to cut a trench up to 700 mm (27 1/2 in)for pipelines, cables and umbilicals in varying seabed soil conditions in depths to 3 m (10 ft).
The company is completing a design review prior to commissioning the building of a mechanical trench cutter, theOcean Cutter 01, for use in hard soils.
There are further plans for investment into advanced trenching equipment as well.
Also due for delivery shortly is a burial index plough designed to provide comprehensive pre-burial route surveys and to assess associated risks.
Jeremy Beckman
Editor, Europe
