Big Blue World issue 4 - June/July 2022

Big Blue World The Global Newsletter of the Society for Underwater Technology

Issue 4, June/July 2022

1

Contents 03 Welcome from the CEO Cheryl Burgess

03 New Corporate Members 04 Forthcoming Events 05 Publications UT2, Underwater Robotics, MTS Journal

06 SUT+ News

Shruthi Sivadasan

08 OceanTech - Splash Zone Expertise Tim Eley

10 Verlume - Intelligent Energy Management Richard Knox

16 SUT Member News Balmoral Dr Jan Mangal XOCEAN Proserv Modus RBR

24 Recent Event Reports Gadgets & Widgets Combined Naval Event ECOSIGG Offshore Renewable Innovation Competition A Life Less Ordinary - Subsea Inspection Operations Carbon Capture & Sequestration: Strategies, Plans and Equipment Offshore Site Investigation & Geotechnics (OSIG) South West Geoforum 5

32 Lennard-Senior Prize at All-Energy 34 Next Issue

Big Blue World™ Editor: Emily Boddy emily.boddy@sut.org Contact Emily to submit an article, send in Corporate Member news, member updates and photos, or to find out about advertising and sponsorship opportunities in Big Blue World™. youtube.com/SUTMedia twitter.com/SUT_news instagram.com/societyforunderwater linkedin.com/company/sutuk facebook.com/SUT.org buzzsprout.com/1000288

www.sut.org

Welcome from the CEO

Welcome Welcome to the SUT’s July newsletter. July marks the start of the SUT member year. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere we are at the start of summer and for those SUT members in the Southern Hemisphere, the winter season is beginning. Wherever you are, I hope you will be in touch with Branches and Special Interest Groups as the SUT’s calendar comes together for 20222023. In addition to the webinars the SUT has developed during the pandemic, we are pleased to see face-to-face meetings returning to the calendar and becoming more frequent with conferences, seminars, training and on-line meetings.

Cheryl Burgess

We are pleased to confirm that the Educational Support Fund will be available to students in 2022-2023; with application submissions due in by 30th July. We are creating the Bil Loth Memorial Grant as part of the ESF for doctoral candidates. Find the fund here.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for joining or renewing their SUT membership. Membership is the life-blood of the Society. As the SUT organises and promotes events I urge you to share the opportunity to present, attend, learn and network with your colleagues and get involved. Find out more here.

Please contact us to share your views and news.

Cheryl Burgess, CEO

Welcome to our new Corporate Members

Welcome to our newest Corporate Members!

Click to find out how your organisation can join the SUT as a Corporate Member.

Society for Underwater Technology

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Forthcoming Events & Dates for the Diary JULY 2022

AUGUST 2022

SUT+ Webinar - The Green Lifecycle of Decommissioning

SUT US - Networking Event

21 July 2022 Webinar

4 August 2022 Houston, TX, US

SUT+ Site Visit - Fugro Remote Operations Centre

27 July 2022 Aberdeen, UK

Call for Papers Deadline - The Energy Field of the Future

17 August 2022

Call for Papers Deadline - 9th International SUT OSIG Conference “Innovative Geotechnologies for Energy Transition”

31 July 2022

Perth Evening Technical Meeting Collaborative Technology Deployment – Julimar Development Phase 2 Project

17 August 2022 Parmelia Hilton, Perth, WA SUT US Webinar - Marine Site Characterization for Carbon Sequestration Projects

4 August 2022 Webinar For more information on SUT events go to www.sut.org/events

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Publications UT2/Underwater Robotics - The magazines of the SUT Click to read the latest issues

Marine Technology Society Journal (MTSJ) The Marine Technology Society Journal is the flagship publication of the Marine Technology Society. It publishes the highest caliber, peerreviewed papers, six times a year, on subjects of interest to the society: marine technology, ocean science, marine policy, and education. The Marine Technology Society has published the MTS Journal under its current title since 1969.

Click to read the latest issue.

Society for Underwater Technology

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SUT+ News

SUT+ Things are moving fast in the industry right now and the SUT+ Aberdeen branch is not slowing down either! 2022 has been electric so far and we have seen continued growth in attendance to all of our events. The committee really appreciate the support and are extremely glad that so many can benefit from the knowledge our events are helping to share.

SUT+ Chair Shruthi Sivadasan at Aberdeen South Harbour

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SUT+ Chair Shruthi Sivadasan at the Balmoral Subsea Test Centre

SUT+ News

Visit to the Balmoral Subsea Test Centre

We have had some great highlights over the last few months, including our site visit to the excellent Balmoral Subsea Test Centre at the end of April. More recently, we held our ‘Insights Into Thesis Preparation Event’ in hybrid format at Aberdeen University, with an outstanding 30+ students joining us in person, and our visit to the Aberdeen South Harbour. Seeing engagement from all experience levels in the industry at these events has been a great inspiration. Additionally, we continue to release our successful SUT+ Newsletter and our following LinkedIn has expanded to 850+ followers!

We cannot wait to share with you what else we have in store for the rest of 2022. We will be visiting Fugro’s Remote Operating Centre at the end of July and have many more exciting webinars on the horizon! Make sure you follow us on LinkedIn to keep up to date with all of our future events here.

Visit to Aberdeen South Harbour Society for Underwater Technology

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Innovation

OceanTech Splash Zone Expertise Tim Eley, OceanTech For many years now, Oil & Gas Operators and service companies have been performing routine Subsea Interventions at depths of 100’s of meters and Well Interventions, at depths of 1000’s of meters.

Yet, at modest depths, of only minus a few meters just below sea level, Operators & service companies still struggle to undertake work in the Splash Zone! Wave action, Wind and Tidal forces, can make Splash Zone Intervention, where it is difficult to deploy divers or ROV equipment, one of the most challenging areas to perform routine maintenance, mechanical work and inspection.

OceanTech, a technologybased service company based in Trondheim in Norway, uses

innovative robotic equipment, ROV tools, tooling, and techniques, to perform high quality solutions for Splash Zone Interventions.

The key to deploying the OceanTech Tools is to fix them to the structure above and below sea level. Whether that structure is a platform jacket leg, a tubular, a riser, or a conductor pipe, giving a stable fixed platform, from which to operate OceanTech’s modified Schilling Robotic Arms and tooling, is the key to successful operations. A lot of the equipment used can be standard ROV tools & tooling.

However, the methods used to access and fix the equipment into the Splash Zone are generally engineered for each application. For example, for the side of a platform jacket, OceanTech would deploy a VAT Vertical Access System, a rail that is fixed to the platform jacket, along which you can drive the Schilling Robotic Arm & tooling into the Splash Zone.

A similar system is

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used for risers or conductors where the vertical rail clamps round the riser, conductor, or tubular. In addition, a clamp tool can be used round a riser or conductor, to descend into the Splash Zone - up and down the riser or conductor itself.

One novel approach even used the rig anchor chains to deploy the robotic arm down the side of the drilling rig into the splash zone for work replacing 600 Kilogram anodes, above the anchor chain fairlead wheels at minus 15 meters.

Previous attempts by both divers and ROV’s had failed to successfully change out the anodes.

The access systems & equipment to do this is generally light weight and is deployed from the platform using special rigging techniques and skilled

Innovation OceanTech rope access technicians. This means small crews of 4-6 platform-based personnel can do the work which expensive Dive or ROV vessels often struggle to do.

Once deployed into the splash zone, OceanTech operations can continue in up to 3m significant wave height.

Most OceanTech work scopes commonly start with some type of cleaning, to remove marine growth from - platform legs, risers, and conductors or more and more these days, Wind Turbine foundations too.

OceanTech robotic tools are controlled from a purpose-built control cabin on the platform or where space is at a premium, by compact lap top computer operating modular systems.

High pressure water jetting techniques give excellent surface cleaning to allow for a wide range of inspections: • GVI - General Visual Inspection • CVI - Close Visual Inspection • CP - Cathodic Protection Measures - replacement of Anodes • UT - Ultrasonic thickness Measurements • PEC - Pulse Eddy Current Thickness Measurements (note - no need for cleaning using this method) • FGI - Field Gradient Imaging - Crack Detection One of OceanTech’s newest systems, designed for a Norwegian Operator, is an Inspection Robot.

The Robot can track and follow 360 degree circular nodal welds, where the

structural cross tubulars meet platform legs. This is a unique solution developed by OceanTech to detect cracks and measure their length and depth using the Field Gradient Imaging technique.

Finally, for such an innovative modern technology-based service company, OceanTech’s roots in Trondheim, are closely linked by heritage to a bygone period of history, dating from World War II.

The Inspection Robot can be deployed, like all OceanTech other tooling, through the Splash Zone. However, the Inspection Robot can also be picked up by an ROV and “piggy backed” or deployed to much deeper depths using an ROV as the “mother” vehicle.

Based at Dora II in Trondheim, OceanTech’s current Subsea/Splash Zone Test Centre and workshops are housed in a large dry dock which historically was an old Submarine pen left over from another era.

Splash Zone work is not just all about inspection.

OceanTech have completed large mechanical scopes of work ranging from, riser repair and anode replacement, to the installation of large new I & J tubes on a platform jacket. This work included the design, build and installation of large subsea clamps to fix the bottom of the I & J tubes to the platform jacket, at minus 16 meters. All this work was accomplished independently, by a platform based OceanTech team, without any support from Divers or ROV vessels, resulting in big savings for the Operator, off the Northwest Continental shelf of Australia.

These days the dry dock is a magnificent facility that allows full scale mock-up and testing of OceanTech’s Splash Zone engineering solutions - wet and dry! Full scale testing and operations are rehearsed many times over, long before the engineering is deployed offshore in the Splash Zone.

For further information please contact the Author: Tim Eley Business Developer, OceanTech - Aberdeen +44 (0)7709 330150 www.oceantech.no

Society for Underwater Technology

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Innovation

Embracing the benefits of intelligent energy management for the future of subsea operations After a two-year break, it was fantastic to see the SUT Aberdeen Branch Committee hosting the Gadgets and Widgets event once again. At the evening event in April, I was delighted to be a speaker alongside a range of other companies presenting the very latest innovations for the underwater sector.

The focus of my presentation was Verlume’s energy management capabilities, including the groundbreaking Intelligent Energy Management System (IEMS) technology and applications.

For those of you who may not be familiar, Verlume is an expert in clean energy system integration, intelligent energy management and energy storage technologies.

I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on why the inclusion of intelligent energy management into subsea applications will be crucial to the future of underwater developments.

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The Evolution of the Offshore Industry There is certainly a lot of innovation in this space and the evolution of the offshore industry, driven in particular by the energy transition, is presenting us with a unique opportunity to embrace novel and innovative power generation, energy storage and energy management technologies.

As part of the energy transition, we are collectively looking for solutions to decarbonise and promote the use and integration of cleaner, lower carbon energy to reach net zero targets more quickly.

Through the utilisation of intelligent energy management, we can facilitate the integration of alternative energy sources and operating models whilst also mitigating the impacts of intermittency of supply or optimising existing power supplies. For renewable sources, from wave energy to tidal energy, floating solar

Richard Knox, Verlume

farms and offshore wind, an energy management system can act as the gateway between a clean energy input to provide secure energy delivery for subsea projects and inspection, repair and maintenance.

The Intelligent Energy Management System (IEMS) developed by Verlume, as mentioned above, is power generation agnostic meaning that the technology can be adapted to suit any renewable energy input and can autonomously manage consistent power delivery to multiple offshore payloads.

For example, the inclusion of IEMS into distributed subsea docking stations can enable short and long-term residency as well as lower carbon, safer operations.

Autonomous Offshore Power Systems: A New Asset Class One configuration that can be adopted is the integration of IEMS within Halo, Verlume’s

Innovation scalable modular battery energy storage device, which when combined together supplements power supplies by providing an energy source for subsea system peak demands, allowing the power distribution system to be sized on average demand.

Halo and IEMS have been integrated for use within a world-first autonomous offshore power sea trail at the US Navy Wave Energy Test site in Hawaii, to demonstrate the provision of local power through a wave energy converter, coupled with energy storage and bi-directional data communications for static and mobile offshore assets.

The project configuration will create an Autonomous Offshore Power System (AOPS), whereby the generator captures and converts wave energy into useable and storable forms of energy and then the seafloor base unit stores and distributes energy to multiple subsea payloads. This AOPS will support multiple payloads simultaneously, such as data gathering systems, operations systems and vehicles.

Verlume also has a suite of tools for creating a detailed model of power input and demand versus time, to create a digital twin of the energy system for continued optimisation.

The Future of Subsea Applications As demonstrated, with options for integrated remote power generation from a range of sources for much longer periods of residency, there are many benefits to integrating intelligent energy management into the future of subsea operations.

Thank you again to SUT for the opportunity to present at the Gadgets and Widgets event and I am very much looking forward to seeing you all at the next in person gathering.

IEMS integrated as part of the Halo device

Society for Underwater Technology

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Forthcoming Events

OCEANOLOGY INTERNATIONAL AMERICAS LAUNCHES CALL FOR CONTENT San Diego, CA, 14th-16th Feb 2023 The organiser of Oceanology International Americas (OiA), RX Global has put out its Call For Content for the 2023 event and is looking towards the industry for content.

As part of the three-day conference program, OiA will run a series of technical tracks exploring the latest developments in ocean technology and its applications in support of scientific research, safe and sustainable use of the ocean and ocean resources, and the protection of the marine and coastal environment. The technical track program will cover all stages of ocean technology innovation; seamlessly connecting technology push with application pull.

Conference Manager Carlos Fernandes said: “We’re able to analyse and therefore curate conferences and technical sessions that we are able to say with confidence, will be well attended by engaged audiences looking for new knowledge that will help propel their personal development and that of their businesses.

OiA offers the perfect platform for the industry to share knowledge and exchange ideas in forums that are technically diverse, but with a common bond. We are seeking out solutions from the ocean technology, engineering and marine science communities that will help businesses to innovate and improve strategies for exploring, protecting and sustainably operating in the world’s oceans and waterways.

Now in its third edition, OiA is attracting significant interest from manufacturers, and the wider supply chain. Set in the heartland of the US Blue Tech economy, the event is the perfect platform for businesses to meet qualified leads from across the Americas and Asia. Content is centred on engineering and engineers, and set to attract visitors and exhibitors alike from a range of high growth ocean sectors including offshore wind, aquaculture, environmental and defense.

Dr Ralph Rayner OiA Conference Chair added, “Speaking at Oi Americas provides you with a perfect platform to connect with new and exclusive contacts – it’s like a VIP pass to your part of the ocean science and technology community.”

The 2023 event will see content delivered on: Sensors & Instruments, Vessels, Vehicles & Platforms, Data Communications, Data Analysis and more! If this sounds like you, please submit your paper and we’ll be in touch.

For further information or to submit a paper, please go to www. oceanologyinternationalamericas.com/en-gb/ forms/call-for-papers.html 12

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Forthcoming Events

The Energy Field of the Future Call for Papers now open The Society for Underwater Technology, The Hydrographic Society UK and Ireland (THS: UK&I) Scotland Branch and The International Marine Contractors Association are jointly holding our wellrespected joint industry seminar in November 2022 (date to be announced) in Aberdeen, UK. The energy industry is currently experiencing a period of significant change, with ever increasing focus on sustainability, while marine and underwater technologies continue to advance. With this scale of change ongoing, what does the field of the future look like, and how close are we to achieving ‘Net Zero’ targets? What transformative technologies and strategies will have the greatest impact to: operational efficiency, value creation, and Net Zero operations? How do we accelerate the integration of these solutions within our existing offshore assets?

Topics of interest will include (but not limited to) Autonomy

Alternative fuels

Electrification

Energy transition

Communication

Net Zero operations

Remote inspection

Subsea chemical storage/deployment

Cloud Computing & Data analytics

Subsea energy storage

Abstracts of 150 words are invited considering the above topics of interest to members of all three societies, with the aim of providing a 20-minute presentation.

Abstracts should be submitted to callforpapers@sut.org by 17th August 2022 All submissions will be acknowledged, and speakers advised by 31st August 2022 if their abstract has been accepted. Note: Sponsorship opportunities also exist with the option to deliver an elevator pitch. For more information contact callforpapers@sut.org.

Society for Underwater Technology

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ADIPEC Brought To You By

9th International Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Conference Innovative Geotechnologies for Energy Transition 12-14 September 2023 London, UK

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July 2 1 3 e n i l ad

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ISSMGE 6th McClelland Lecture | Conference Dinner

Call For Abstracts The SUT’s Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics (OSIG) committee is pleased to announce that its 9th international conference, ‘Innovative Geotechnologies for Energy Transition’, will take place from 12-14 September 2023 at Imperial College in South Kensington, London.

Call for abstracts now open - go to www.osig2023.com

Conference Themes To aid administration, authors are requested to select up to three primary categories / keywords for their abstract from the following list. It should be noted that these categories are indicative and the committee will consider all abstracts relevant to offshore site investigation, geophysics & geotechnics, including relevant case studies.

15. Jacket pile design, installation and performance

1.

New regions, geology and geotechnics

2.

Advances in geoscientific data acquisition

3.

Advances in geoscientific processing

17. Gravity based foundations

4.

Advances in geotechnical investigation

18. Jack up foundations

5.

Advances in AI for offshore geotechnology

19. Floating system anchoring and foundations

6.

Underground carbon capture and storage

20. Cyclic and seismic loading of foundations

7.

Seabed slopes and slides

21. Scour assessment and monitoring

8.

Hydrates, shallow gas and seepage

22. Pipeline and cable engineering

9.

Seismic hazards and tsunamis

23. Seabed interaction of dynamic cables and risers

10. Data integration and ground modelling 11. Learning from offshore incidents 12. Foundation research and design 13. Optimisation and performance-based design 14. Monopile design, installation and performance

16. Suction installed foundations

24. Environmental and anthropogenic impacts of engineering 25. Decommissioning and clean-up 26. Engineering for climate change 27. Near coastal geotechnical engineering 28. Seabed mineral extraction

For any queries, and for details of sponsorship opportunities, please contact SUT Events osig2023@sut.org | www.osig2023.com The information in this document is subject to change without notice.

SUT Member News Jim Milne, Chairman and Managing Director of Balmoral Group, receives knighthood

Image credit: Balmoral Group

Jim Milne, chairman and managing director of Balmoral Group, now officially Sir James S Milne CBE, DL, DHC, Hon DBA, Hon FRIAS, was awarded the honour of Knight Bachelor in the Queen’s Birthday 2022 Honours List for services to business and charity.

Following the acceptance of his knighthood, he said: “I am deeply honoured and quite taken aback to have received such humbling recognition from Her Majesty The Queen in this very special year for her.

he says. “You might think I’m either a genius, completely mad or, perhaps more realistically, somewhere in the middle.”

Sir James is often quoted as saying that he hasn’t come a long way in life as his company’s corporate headquarters are located less than a mile from where he was born and brought up on the family farm, just outside Aberdeen city at that time.

Nowadays, Balmoral Group operates from a 45 acre site in Aberdeen and has engineering and manufacturing facilities in Newcastle, South Yorkshire and South Wales, all run by dedicated and committed individuals which he feels is so important.

Like all business people, he has experienced numerous highs and lows, both on a commercial and personal level and, somehow, has always bounced back.

“I’m a great believer in people. If you have good people, look after them; I can certainly say we have an abundance of good people at Balmoral that have supported me and the company exceptionally well.

He is a firm believer that the way to get on in life is to take calculated risks, make mistakes and learn from them - and admits to making quite a “For as long as I can remember I have strived to be the best I can be and, I think, have encouraged few in his time. others to do and think the same way.

Sir James continued: “I do believe, however, that I was a born entrepreneur; growing lettuce and “I am very fortunate in that I have been mushrooms; buying, renovating and selling cars surrounded by a loving family all my life and while at school before acquiring an 84 x 21ft they have given me the strength and freedom to ex-RAF hut from Kinloss to start up my first pursue my commercial, charitable and personal glassfibre manufacturing operation on the family dreams. The good Lord has been watching and Home Farm of Tullos.” guiding me too, of course.

“You can draw your own conclusions from this”, 16

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SUT Member News “85% of what we produce in the UK is exported worldwide. From our offshore energy products for the hydrocarbon and renewable sectors, to our anaerobic digestion and water/wastewater products, you will find Balmoral products on every continent in the world.

“Quality products supported by a problem solving approach and a commitment to world class service is a powerful and profitable mix.”

Sir James is joint founder and chairman of Friends of ANCHOR, a charity established in 1997 that supports Aberdeen’s cancer and haematology care unit, as well as financing many ground-breaking research programmes.

“I am very proud of the charitable work that I have been fortunate enough to be involved in around the world. This is not something that I normally comment on but I have to mention Friends of ANCHOR.

“Since 1997 Balmoral has funded all the fundraising team and administrative costs of Friends of ANCHOR. The charity, in its 25th year, is on course to reach a record project target of £2m that will help make the difference in Aberdeen’s new cancer care centre due to open in 2023. This is an absolutely fantastic effort by the FoA team and their volunteers.”

He will turn 82 years of age this year so it’s been quite a journey for the boy that left school at 14 with no qualifications and the youngest of nine of a family.

Sir James concluded: “I am a very proud man today and will take time to reflect on the achievements that have led to this tremendous honour.

“I know that my whole family will be equally proud, those that are with us and those that, sadly, are not.”

SUT sponsored student from 1990 I may have been one of the first SUT sponsored students in 1990 at the University of Edinburgh.

Dr Jan Mangal

SUT sponsorship (now known as the ESF - Educational Support Fund) was a great way to solidify a student’s interest in offshore engineering.

The site visits arranged by the SUT were particularly valuable, and I still recall us students indulging in “helium speech” when touring the SAT diving quarters of a semi-submersible.

After Edinburgh and my experience with the SUT, I pursued a doctorate at Oxford University in offshore geotechnical engineering; spending a few years with very fine sand, silicone oil, and model “bucket” foundations.

This led to a couple years in the transoceanic submarine fibre-optic industry (installing cable in 8km of water), and to a career with Chevron developing billion-dollar projects (living in the US, Vietnam and the Philippines). After working for an oil company, I was lucky to spend a few years on the other side of the fence, advising governments and lobbying for citizens’ rights with respect to fossil fuel extraction, the energy transition, and good governance.

And now I am back to where I started, back to my technical roots in offshore geotechnical engineering. I recently switched from O&G to offshore wind by joining Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions.

SUT sponsorship provided a great introduction to offshore engineering, and I hope the programme is still proving as valuable to the latest crop of students.

Dr Jan Mangal - jmangal@gdgeo.com

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SUT Member News

XOCEAN Expands with Acquisition of

Irish based international ocean data company, XOCEAN, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Geomara, a specialist hydrographic survey company, as part of its strategic global growth plan. The announcement follows the investment of €8m in September 2021 aimed to accelerate XOCEAN’s growth. Carbon-neutral XOCEAN is driving down emissions in the offshore industry and is delivering on its impact goal of displacing the emission of one million tons of carbon over the next 5 years.

For over 15 years, Geomara has been providing expert advice and services to a large variety of clients across the marine industry including Renewable Energy developers. It has prided itself on understanding their clients’ needs and delivering outstanding results which match the goals of the project. XOCEAN is transforming the way ocean data is collected using marine robotics known as Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs). Services provided

by XOCEAN include seabed mapping, inspection of subsea assets and environmental monitoring.

Having tripled its revenue for two consecutive years, XOCEAN is developing a world-leading reputation within the ocean data market and is accelerating this growth as the business scales. The company has tripled its headcount to 150 over the past 12 months and plans to grow it further to 300 over the next 18 months.

The company uses its proprietary marine robotic technology to collect ocean data sustainably across a range of industries including Offshore Wind. In just 3 years, XOCEAN has successfully delivered over 150 international projects accumulating over

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SUT Member News

f Survey Specialists Geomara

James Ives (L), XOCEAN with Finn Delaney, Geomara

45,000 hours of operation. The business continues to drive the development of new products with an ambitious technology roadmap, which integrates new capabilities whilst maximising the efficiency of the platform and pushing the boundaries of the technology to fulfil the growing demand for carbon-neutral data collection.

Geomara owner and Managing Director, Finn Delaney said “Both companies pride themselves on delivering high quality service to our clients, and it was obvious that there was great synergy, both in culture and in our vision. It is an exciting time to be in the industry and together we aim to continue to transform it.”

Commenting on the acquisition, James Ives, CEO, XOCEAN said “We’re delighted to welcome Finn and the team at Geomara.

Combining XOCEAN’s innovative technology and Geomara’s strong industry expertise we look forward to further scaling XOCEAN as we continue to deliver low impact, carbon neutral ocean data to our clients.”

Society for Underwater Technology

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SUT Member News

Proserv to monitor cables on Equinor’s Hywind Scotland floating wind farm Predictive analytics modelling, via Proserv’s ECG™ holistic cable monitoring system, to be demonstrated on UK’s best performing offshore wind farm.

Global controls technology leader Proserv is to supply its pioneering holistic cable monitoring system (CMS), ECG™, to Norwegian international energy company Equinor’s Hywind Scotland, which in 2017 became the world’s first commercial floating offshore wind farm, located off the coast of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire in northeast Scotland.

The CMS not only employs distributed temperature sensing (DTS) and distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) but engages Synaptec’s unique distributed electromechanical sensors (DES), via its passive electrical and mechanical sensor systems. The hardware will be complemented by the intuitive human-machine interface, utilising Proserv’s TIACS software suite.

Proserv is to deliver its CMS to analyse the condition and integrity of export and inter-array cables across the wind farm utilising the fibre optic cores within the cables.

The demonstration, focused on ECG’s data analytics abilities, is scheduled to extend until April 2024 with installation and commissioning set to take place in Q3 of this year.

Critically, Proserv’s ECG can monitor the condition and performance of cable terminations, an aspect needing development in the offshore wind sector. Cable terminations are wellknown for being a serious failure point and so this technology solution will scrutinise this specific key area of an asset.

ECG represents a step change in traditional monitoring methods, offering comprehensive visibility across cable assets as an integrated, scalable and multi-faceted single package.

The technology has been initiated and driven by Proserv with vital support from its consortium partners Synaptec, a power system monitoring expert, and BPP Cable Solutions, specialists in subsea power cable engineering and management.

The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC) has also given its support to the group during the development of the solution.

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During ECG’s demonstration on Hywind Scotland, BPP Cable Solutions will provide advanced real-time data processing and predictive analytics modelling, representing a major shift from traditional reactive cable performance monitoring approaches, whereby a cable fault or failure is analysed from stored data after an event takes place.

This will be achieved by BPP Cable Solutions applying its experience in processing data generated from DTS and DAS, as well as Synaptec’s DES and cable connection monitoring technologies. Specialist predictive data analysis tools will be combined with known cable power

SUT Member News

transmission performance physics to monitor cable arrays continuously and autonomously. This will give assurance of “as designed” cable health and will identify in advance any anomalies and potential longerterm faults that can be dealt with on a proactive basis.

Paul Cook, Business Development Director – Renewables, at Proserv remarked: “We are most grateful to Equinor for enabling us to supply our ECG cable monitoring solution to the Hywind Scotland wind farm and to display the potential and power of this technology, including its data analytics capabilities. Owners and operators urgently need a cohesive O&M strategy around their cable assets and with its scrutiny of terminations, alongside its unique predictive insights, ECG offers unrivalled visibility of this key part of an offshore wind farm’s infrastructure.

“Equally, as floating wind scales up rapidly, this arrangement on Hywind Scotland represents perfect timing for us to show what ECG can do.”

Earlier this year, it was announced that Proserv had secured a contract for ECG to be implemented on the bottom-fixed Dogger Bank Wind

Farm phases A and B to monitor the condition and integrity of the asset’s inter-array cables, representing the technology’s first commercial sale. Dogger Bank will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm once completed.

Hywind Scotland has a reputation for being the UK’s top performing offshore wind farm, holding the best rolling 12-month capacity factor across the nation for the past few years, and currently performing comfortably above 55%.

Davis Larssen, Chief Executive Officer, Proserv Controls added: “The deployment of ECG to Hywind Scotland marks another important stepping stone towards this disruptive technology becoming the benchmark solution for cable asset management in offshore wind.

“In a few short months we have seen ECG selected to support the operation of the world’s biggest offshore wind farm, due to the strength of its proposition, and now it will be supplied to a wellestablished floating asset, indicating its flexibility, versatility and relevance to the entire offshore wind sector.”

Image credit: Michal Wachucik ©Equinor

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SUT Member News

MODUS Charters Vessel with Availability from mid-July Modus, a leading offshore contractor delivering life-of-field support utilising Smart Subsea Services, recently announced that they have chartered a multipurpose offshore support vessel, VOS Sweet, from Vroon Offshore Services via a deal brokered by Clarksons.

The vessel, chartered to fulfil a contract award for pipeline-inspection work in the Dutch North Sea sector, will be mobilised from the Modus Middlesbrough Marine Base on 30 June. The contract will involve Modus’ skilled and dedicated team, offering full survey and inspection vessel capability supported by an experienced onshore team. Upon completion of the firm offshore contract, Modus will have some availability circa mid-July.

Installed will be a Modus hybrid AUV (HAUV) representing the latest in autonomous technology, full survey spread for pipeline/geophysical survey and ROV capability. The spread will enable fast, accurate data acquisition of pipelines, route surveys and target identification.

VOS Sweet is a cost effective, modern DP2 subsea-support vessel with a low fuel consumption, perfectly suited for subsea survey (pipeline-, UXO- and route survey) and inspection while supporting equipment such as boulder removal tools.

Mike Arnold, Chief Commercial Officer at Modus says “The charter of VOS Sweet means we can continue to build on our in-house expertise and offer a flexible, high-quality and reliable service that reaffirms our continuing commitment to the energy industry for the provision of high tech, smart solutions. With it, additional work streams and a new client base will be opened to us”.

For further information and technical details, please contact Mike Arnold 07778 818244 or Graeme Jaques, Sales Manager on 07769 299 353.

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SUT Member News

RBR now guarantees instrument calibration in three weeks or less Ottawa, Canada - RBR, a global leader in oceanographic instruments, now guarantees to complete calibration of qualifying instruments in three weeks or less. The new Three or Free guarantee bucks current COVID-related trends towards longer lead times on products and services, at a time when global oceanographic research activity is picking up the pace.

“We want to get RBR users back in the water as fast as possible”, says RBR President, Greg Johnson.

“That’s why we’ve invested heavily to expand our calibration lab and increase capacity. We’re proud that we can offer a reliable three-week turnaround time and stand behind it with our new Three or Free guarantee.”

The guarantee is simple. RBR will inspect, calibrate, and ship qualifying instruments within three weeks of receiving them or the calibration is free. Most instruments will qualify, with the exception of titanium instruments, instruments in cages, thermistor strings, non-RBR sensors, or instruments integrated into floats, gliders, or AUVs. “We’ll even cover multiple instruments in one shipment, up to a total of 15 channels of calibration”, says Mark Stacey, Technical Support Manager.

“If instruments don’t qualify or we find they need repair, we will provide an expected completion date within a couple of business days”, says Stacey. “We want to simplify deployment planning for our customers, so great communication is as important as fast, efficient service.”

For more information on the Three or Free calibration guarantee please go to rbr-global.com/three-or-free.

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Reports of Recent Events

Gadgets and Widgets 27 April 2022 Holiday Inn, Westhill, Aberdeen | Co-chaired by Jim Mann and Andrew Connelly

Report by Andrew Connelly April 2022 saw a return to in-person events hosted by the SUT Aberdeen Branch, kicking off with the Gadgets and Widgets format which has previously been an annual event. The Gadgets and Widgets format sees nine presenters each give a short – 10 minutes maximum – technical presentation on latest developments, typically without a slot for questions after each speaker. The presentation session is followed by a networking session with food and drink available, each speaker has the opportunity to set up a tabletop demo space with any relevant equipment or software allowing the audience to interact and ask questions.

Nine speakers / organisations presented at this event:

Nigel Robinson, Apollo Nigel presented Apollo’s PALM quick connect system which has been developed to facilitate mechanical and electrical hook-up of floating offshore renewables – a part of the energy industry which has potential for significant growth. Nigel had brought along a 3D printed, detailed model of the connector which was used to demonstrate during the presentation time.

Jeremy Edwards, C-Kore Systems Ltd Jeremy presented on C-Kore’s time domain reflectometry (TDR) technology which is used to accurately locate faults in electrical conductors at significant range. C-Kore have developed a tool which allows the device to be connected subsea, avoiding potential accuracy issues trying to use the tool directly from topside through various distribution networks. Jeremy had brought a version of this tool to demonstrate on his tabletop space.

Richard Knox, Verlume Richard provided an update on how Verlume’s developments have organically shifted from developing an underwater turbine, to developing subsea deployed batteries, to an intelligent power management system designed to support energy storage connected to tidal turbines.

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Reports of Recent Events

Jim Mann standing in for Ellis McDonald, Panolin Unfortunate circumstances led to neither Ellis or colleague Tony being able to attend on the night. Jim discussed the green offshore fluids developed by Panolin, as an environmentally friendly alternative to more traditional lubricants, hydraulic oils and protective coatings.

Stuart Moir, MWNW MWNW have developed a take on tidal or water flow turbine and presented where the development is todate including concept, in-water trials, and what sort of applications this may be used for.

Giuseppe Rizzo, Oceaneering Energy Products Oceaneering provide various tools for in-situ pipeline repair including clamping devices, which Giuseppe presented to the audience. The presentation included some excellent videos on the various inspection, preparation and installation processes as well as a case study of a recent project.

Martin Anderson, Kinstair Consultants for Cellula Robotics Cellula robotics are in the process of developing and proving a fuel cell designed for use in AUV applications.

This provides greater energy density than current batteries allowing for longer range and / or less weight, and the fuel cell has the potential to make use of green hydrogen.

Nigel Orr, Imenco Nigel presented a new 60,000 lumen subsea lighting system call SeaLED, designed for subsea vehicles and inspection purposes. Both hardware and software were presented, the latter providing both detailed and simple controls as well as health monitoring of individual lamps to enhance reliability. A demo system was brought along which was very illuminating!

Asser Awaad, Impact Subsea Asser provided a brief update on their SeaView software, which is used to communicate with Impact Subsea sensors, manage settings, display data, and provide data outputs to client systems. A live demo was given within the 10-minute slot including two sensors from the Impact Subsea line-up.

What was interesting from the presentations was a common theme on subsea power and alternative energies, which continues to be a hot topic for offshore energy companies. The other common theme was IRM which in an energy security age is going to be very important to ensure that we can do more with what we currently have.

The majority of the audience stayed for the networking session following the presentations, and it appeared that the majority of presenters with tabletop demonstrations were receiving good engagement from the audience. The audience gave good feedback on the technologies on display, the format of the event and the running of the event in general.

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Reports of Recent Events

Combined Naval Event Farnborough, UK May 2022 The importance of the maritime domain and consequently competition and potentially confrontation at sea is growing.

The Combined Naval Event brought together three Navel conferences on Underwater Defence & Security, Future Surface Fleet and Submarine Technology for three days of learning, discovery and networking at the Farnborough International Exhibition Centre with over 70 speakers, 130 exhibitors and more than 1000 delegates from over 30 nations.

Nick Swift, SUT’s Defence Special Interest Group Chair, spoke on Opportunities From The Commercial Sector For Military Applications. Nick’s presentation touched on Evolution in Underwater Warfare, The tactics and technology’s iterative loop advantages and optimisation and How the oceanographic and energy sectors are developing advanced technologies for underwater exploration and survey.

Naval strategies, digitising the future, technologies, safety, autonomous vehicles, robotics, modernisation, support and design excellence were all in the conference spotlight.

SUT members were among the exhibition which showcased technology, services, hardware & software and world-class expertise.

“Interesting three days at Combined Navel Event, Farnborough. The exhibition gave SMD the chance to promote our robotic platforms and autonomous launch equipment to a different audience. We had many high-quality conversations with senior personnel from the defence sector which I’m sure will open up new and exciting opportunities for SMD – Mark Collins, Business Development Director SMD”.

The Combined Naval Event will be back in Farnborough next year, 23-25 May 2023. For more information, www.navyleaders.com.

SUT Defence SIG Chair Nick Swift

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Reports of Recent Events

Pictured: Top Left (L-R) Commander Filip Clauwaert, NATO Naval Mine Warefare COE; Chris Lade, Saab Seaeye.

Top Right (L-R) Matt Woodward; Lee Carden; Mark Collins, Soil Machine Dynamics. Bottom Left (L-R) Tom Rooney, Sonardyne International Ltd; Nick Swift, SUT. Bottom Right (L-R) Bjarke Ovesen, Paul Anthony, MacArtney Underwater Technology Group.

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Reports of Recent Events ECOSIGG Offshore Renewable Innovation Competition 25 May 2022 | Ørsted Power, London, Scottish Power Renewables & online

The Early Careers Offshore Site Investigation Geoscientists and Geotechnical (ECOSIGG) Special Interest Group recently held their Engineers Presentation Competition, on the topic of Offshore Renewable Innovation.

Spanning three locations (London, Glasgow, and Zoom), the audience and judging panel at this hybrid event heard 10-minute presentations from hopeful entrants on offshore geoscience and geotechnical subjects. The competition was open to geoscientists and geotechnical engineers under the age of 35.

Congratulations to our winners!

1st place went to Carlos Molina Mesa who gave a presentation on Improved Soil Structure Interaction Method for Efficient Monopile. Congratulations on winning the top prize!

2nd place - Benjamin Cerfontaine who gave a presentation on Physical and Numerical Modelling of Helical Piles for Floating Offshore Renewable Energy Devices 3rd place - Sebastian Elliott who gave a presentation on Characterisation of Rock Mass Behaviour in Geotechnical Analyses Well done to the other finalists who presented as well.

A big thank you to our hosts Ørsted in London and ScottishPower in Glasglow, and thank you to ScottishPower, geowynd, and SAND Geophysics Limited for generously sponsoring the prizes.

Thank you to our keynote speakers Roi Soage Santos and Andrew Galbraith, and thank you to the members of the ECOSIGG committee, Darren Burbury, Jordan Geear, Scott Whyte, Jack Rice, for a fantastic event!

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Reports of Recent Events A Life Less Ordinary - Subsea Inspection Operations 22 June 2022 | Holiday Inn, Westhill, Aberdeen | Co-chaired by Calum Hayton and Andrew Connelly

Report by Andrew Connelly and Calum Hayton June 2022 saw our second in person evening meeting hosted by the SUT Aberdeen Branch, and final meeting before heading in to a summer break. The topic was subsea inspection operations, with a title of “A Life Less Ordinary” to capture some slightly more unusual or ‘difficult to inspect’ inspection operations.

A bumper evening of four speakers covering diving operations, ultrasonic pipeline inspection through coatings, mother/daughter inspection ROV operations and advancements L-R Martin Sayer, Scott Jenney, Kris Chambers, Roi Santos in photogrammetry with machine learning.

Kris Chambers, BP, Global Diving Technical Authority Commercial Diving Across BP’s Operations Kris provided an insight into the extent and variety of diving operations which are performed by BP globally.

Kris has created a BP global diving standard to ensure ongoing safe and compliant diving operations. Diving operations covered included the ‘widely expected’ operations such as platform jacket inspections to the ‘less expected’ such as refinery storage tanks.

Graham Marshall, Sonomatic, Subsea Project Manager Subsea Pipeline Inspection through Challenging Coatings Graham presented on Sonomatic’s development to adapt ultrasonic inspection techniques for elements which are coated, which has traditionally been a barrier for ultrasonic measurement usually resulting in the need to remove coatings for inspection. A low frequency approach has been adopted to improve propagation through coatings, with an innovative method of interpreting returns to maintain necessary levels of accuracy and resolution. Graham shared results of workshop proving with test pieces, with plans to progress to offshore inspections in the near future.

Scott Jenney, Film-Ocean, CEO Restricted Access Inspection – Where size matters and being small can be essential Film-Ocean are well known for ROV inspection operations big and small, and have developed a mother / daughter inspection ROV solution where a micro ROV is deployed from a larger inspection ROV. This solves a problem of being able to reach remote restricted access locations, where such scenarios would be too large for a typical inspection ROV, but too remote for a micro ROV to reach the location without assistance.

Martin Sayer, Managing Director, Tritonia Scientific Ltd. Machine Learning in Underwater Inspections: Current and Future Applications Martin presented on 3D photogrammetry techniques which Tritonia have helped to develop and prove, combining above and below water photogrammetry capture to build up complete models of structures. Latest development is to use machine learning techniques to identify marine growth or biofouling, and calculate dimensions and volume of biofouling to a similar level of accuracy of which will have traditionally been manually measured through diving operations.

All presenters had excellent levels of audience engagement with questions, where it was necessary to curb question sessions to maintain timing of the evening. The presentation session was followed by a networking session with food and drink, allowing the audience to interact and ask further questions. This maintained a great level of engagement with all presenters and attendees involved in conversations until close.

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Reports of Recent Events Carbon Capture & Sequestration: Strategies, Plans and Equipment 11 May 2022 | Beazley Ltd, London 11 May saw our first London face-to-face evening meeting in a very long time.

Talking on the subject of Carbon Capture and Sequestration, we heard from: • Nicolas Bouffin Senior Reservoir Engineer, NZT/NEP CCUS Project, BP, on First-of-a-Kind Carbon Capture/Infrastructure project for South North Sea • Chris Phillips Regional Studies Manager, Wood Plc, on CO2 specifications for Carbon Capture Value Chains • Stephen A. Auld, Global Business Manager at Sonardyne International Ltd, on Long Term Monitoring of Stored Sub-Seabed CO2 The three great presentations were followed by networking; great to see colleagues back in-person - a good crowd and superb hospitality from Beazley as always. Thanks to our brilliant speakers and to everyone who came along!

L-R Stephen A. Auld, Nicolas Bouffin, Chris Phillips

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Reports of Recent Events Offshore Site Investigation & Geotechnics (OSIG) South West Geoforum 5 17 May 2022 | SS Great Britain, Bristol

Following the two-year hiatus, SUT OSIG Geoforum was back in Bristol aboard SS Great Britain Trust. Special thanks to our speakers Luke Chinnock, LDD (Large Diameter Drilling Ltd.), Tim Marples, Wessex Archaeology, David White, University of Southampton, Will Hodshon, Vysus Group and chair Alice Maynard, DNV. Many thanks of course to our sponsors Vysus Group, RPS, Arup, University of Bristol, Acteon Geoservices - UTEC.

L-R Luke Chinnock, Tim Marples, David White, Will Hodshon, Alice Maynard

Image courtesy of the SS Great Britatin Trust

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All-Energy 2022

Lennard-Senior Prize Awarded All-Energy and Dcarbonise Exhibition and Conference | 11-12 May, Glasgow

Neil Kermode, Managing Director at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) has won the Lennard-Senior Memorial Prize for the second time. After a long wait he was able to receive his award at this year’s All-Energy conference at the SEC in Glasgow.

The Lennard-Senior Memorial Prize has been awarded annually since 2011 in memory of two of the original members of The Society for Underwater Technology (SUT)’s Marine Renewable Energies Committee (MREC) – Don Lennard and Gordon Senior.

The Prize is nominated and voted for by the members of the MREC and recognises outstanding individual achievement in the field of marine renewable energy.

Neil was the inaugural winner of the prize in 2011, and ten years on won it again for his continued and unrelenting work and being a “true champion of enabling the marine energy sector”.

The award was announced at the SUT annual general meeting in December 2021 and was formally presented at the All-Energy conference in May 2022.

Neil Kermode, EMEC receives his award from Sue John, SUT Chair

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Subsea Awareness Course Aberdeen | 12-16 September 2022

Do you want to know more about Subsea Technology and Operations in Offshore Energy?

– then the SUT’s Subsea Awareness Course is geared towards YOU. The Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) delivers a foundation-level Subsea Awareness Course (SAC) that is suitable for personnel across the full spectrum: Operators / Developers, Contractors, Technology suppliers and other interested organisations, for example; Government, Legal, Finance, and Engineering Houses.

This course provides underpinning knowledge for new entrants in the subsea sector of the offshore energy industry, as well as offering a refresher for experienced professionals seeking to update their knowledge.

Day 1 - Introduction to the Subsea Sector Day 2 - Oil-field equipment & Flow Assurance Day 3 - Offshore Renewables Technologies & Subsea Control Systems Day 4 - Pipeline & Riser Systems Day 5 - Subsea Operation, Decommission, and the Future

Cost (excluding VAT where chargeable) £1600 - SUT members £1900 - Non-members

F and O N , A , IMC ill also S E O R, sw ted EEEG member discoun EIC rom the ce! pri fit f bene member

Click here for more information and to book your place. or contact events@sut.org www.sut.org

Future Issues

We Want to Hear From YOU We’re looking for SUT member-written articles focussing on INNOVATION and on the BLUE ECONOMY. Additionally, if you are a corporate member and have a short update you’d like to include please contact Emily Boddy for details on how to get your company news included in the SUT newsletter.

Issues will be quarterly and can include: • Welcome from the CEO

• SUT Member news

• Welcome to new Corporate Members

• Young Professionals International

• Global Branch updates

• Corporate Member updates

• Special Interest Groups

• Photo Galleries

• Spotlight article(s) on innovation

• Members’ Only advertising

• Spotlight article(s) on the blue economy

• Events/Training/Podcast

• SUT News

• ...and much more...

• SUT Member Benefits

We value our members and your contribution is very important to us at the SUT If you would like to contribute to any of the above features, as an individual member or corporate member please contact Emily Boddy, SUT Communications & Publications Officer - emily.boddy@sut.org NEXT issue September 2022 Deadline for submissions - Thursday 25 August 2022 34

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