6 minute read
Cable re-burial
CABLE REBURIAL REQUIRED ‘OUT OF THE BOX’ THINKING
A state-of-the-art trenching vehicle has been modifi ed to enable a tricky intertidal live export cable re-burial
Jan De Nul was requested by Eneco to rebury a section of an existing export cable for the Luchterduinen off shore wind farm in The Netherlands as coastal erosion was bringing the cable closer to the surface.
Since the section of decreased burial depth was located in the nearshore zone, it was not accessible with typical offshore trenching vehicles nor could it be easily accessed from the beach. Jan De Nul offered Eneco the solution by mobilizing its intertidal trencher, Sunfish, which successfully lowered the nearshore part of the cable working up to 1 kilometre offshore and a water depth of 8.5 metres.
Ernest Diepstraten, Project Manager at Eneco: “Eneco greatly appreciated working together with Jan De Nul constructively in delivering this project in time and in budget. We are pleased that, thanks to the work of Jan De Nul Group, the cable to our Eneco Luchterduinen wind farm is buried deep enough again so that the wind farm can continue to supply power to our customers.”
Specifically for this project, the Sunfish was modified to a suitable post-lay jet-trenching vehicle with 2 water pumps delivering each 1250 m³/hr jet water and 3.5 m long jet swords. The Sunfish was initially designed as a ploughing machine suitable for working in tidal areas. In this configuration, it successfully buried export cables on the Race Bank project in the UK in 2016. Jan De Nul engineers converted the machine later into an excavator with a chain cutter, a configuration which was used for the burial of the Rentel export cable in Belgium in 2017. Today, the Sunfish successfully completed the Eneco Luchterduinen export cable reburial in jetting configuration by using water under high pressure.
To accurately locate the cable, the Sunfish was further equipped with 2 sets of innovative cable tracker sensors of SMD’s innovative tracking system ‘Artemis’ using the live tone of the cable. As a result, Eneco did not have to switch off the wind farm during the entire campaign.
8 Sunfi sh trenching
vehicle
Falcon aids Turkish operations
Saab Seaeye’s Falcon portable underwater vehicle will aid marine operations in Turkey.
Turkish marine operations company, ARAS Marine will use the Falcon to support the wide range of projects it undertakes in both international and Turkish territorial waters. These projects range from marine construction and offshore supply services, to seismic research support, emergency response and salvage and wreck removal.
“Equipped for the wide array of tasks ahead, ARAS’s 1000m depth-rated Falcon comes complete with a fibre optic upgrade, manipulator, soft rope cutter, cameras, Tritech sonar and Applied Acoustics’ USBL system,” said Saab Seaeye.
Modular functionality
ARAS can add further systems any time as the Falcon can handle an array of cameras, sensors, tooling and complex systems typically found on much larger robotic vehicles.
The ease of adding systems comes from the Falcon’s iCON intelligent distributed control architecture. Module-focused iCON provides each device with its own microprocessor for individual control - a concept that also makes it future-flexible for evolving technologies.
The Falcon’s 20-year success comes from being a portable, metre-sized, intelligent, powerful, five-thruster, highly manoeuvrable, multi-tasking, easy to use vehicle, depth rated to 1000 metres.
With a reliability record covering over a million hours underwater, including deep tunnel work, the Falcon can remain stable in turbulent waters and strong currents whilst undertaking both robust and precision tasks.
The contract was negotiated through Saab Seaeye’s Turkish distributor, Aspiro.
IMCA ACCREDITED DIVING SYSTEM INSPECTOR SCHEME
The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) is currently developing its IMCA Accredited Diving System Inspector (ADSI) scheme
It will introduce an industry-recognised professional accreditation for this important group of skilled workers. ADSIs will be accredited to conduct IMCA Diving Equipment Systems Inspection Guidance Note (DESIGN) audits.
DEVELOPMENT
As one of the final stages in development of the scheme IMCA is now asking for known, respected and experienced DESIGN auditors to be put forward for early ADSI certification so they can act as field training supervisors when the scheme is launched during 2022.
New IMCA information notes (Nos. 1565 and 1566) published at www.imca-int.com/information-notes/ provide an overview of how the new scheme will work, and details on the nomination of candidates. The ADSI scheme will be open to personnel either already acting as a diving system inspector or gaining experience in order to become one. It is intended to apply to personnel conducting DESIGN audits and preparing DESIGN audit inspection reports, and thus performing a critically important role in the offshore energy diving industry.
As Bryan McGlinchy, IMCA’s Diving Manager explained: “In order to facilitate the launch of the IMCA ADSI certification scheme in 2022, and for a limited time, the association is introducing a route to certification as an IMCA ADSI for existing experienced DESIGN auditors. This will be known as the Experienced Practitioner Accredited Diving System Inspector (EP ADSI) scheme. IMCA is currently seeking nominations for known, respected and experienced DESIGN audit practitioners to be entered as candidates into the EP ADSI scheme. Nominations of, and from, these experienced individuals will close on 30 September 2021. (Applications from nominated candidates for routine entry into the scheme in readiness for when it is officially launched next year will close on 31 December 2021.)
“When the IMCA ADSI certification scheme opens next year, Trainee Diving System Inspectors (TDSI) enrolled on the scheme will be required to complete field training and experience requirements at trainee level by conducting DESIGN audits under the supervision of existing experienced and competent DESIGN auditors.
“It is therefore necessary for industry to identify a core group of experienced DESIGN audit practitioners working in every IMCA region and put them through the EP ADSI scheme leading to accreditation as an IMCA ADSI, before the IMCA ADSI scheme proper is launched next year.”
He added: “Put simply, to begin running the ADSI scheme IMCA must first-of-all have a sufficient number of certified IMCA ADSIs already in place. These diving system inspectors will have followed the EP ADSI scheme route to certification as an IMCA ADSI, and it is they who will be considered by IMCA to have the competence to act as supervisors of the TDSIs during their periods of field training.”
The scheme will have two categories of accreditation: 5 An inspector of surface orientated diving systems against the requirements of IMCA D 018 ’Code of practice for the
initial and periodic examination, testing and certification of diving plant and equipment’ – and IMCA’s surface orientated diving DESIGN documents. 5 An inspector of saturation diving systems against the requirements of IMCA D 018 and IMCA’s saturation diving
DESIGN documents.
OBJECTIVES
In addition to introducing an industry-recognised professional accreditation for this important group of skilled workers, IMCA lists five other objectives of the IMCA ADSI scheme, which aims to: 5 Help the offshore energy diving industry ensure ‘objective auditing’ of diving systems by individual inspectors 5 Improve the quality, consistency, professionalism and credibility of diving system DESIGN inspections 5 Give diving contractors, client companies and other stakeholders confidence that the diving systems installed and used on diving platforms that have been subject to
DESIGN inspections are fit for purpose and safe to use 5 Help reduce the frequency of diving system DESIGN inspections, especially when diving platforms and/or diving systems move to new projects and new clients, by maintaining an industry-recognised database containing records of high-quality DESIGN inspections undertaken by third-party ADSIs on specific diving systems 5 Provide assurance that diving system inspectors who conduct DESIGN inspections for diving system operators and client companies are: – trained and accredited to a recognised industry standard competent to undertake their duties – able to prepare and deliver consistently high-quality
DESIGN diving system inspection reports – able to conduct their duties at all times with professionalism, objectivity, independence, courtesy, and integrity.
8 Bryan McGlinchy,
