General Offshore Ltd Back and working hard By Nigel Shaw
The name General Offshore has been well known in the cable industry for many years; however, it all but disappeared from view during the mergers and acquisitions of the 1990s. Nevertheless, the passions and experience of the people who made up General Offshore did not, and now with the backing of three companies, MUSC, Pelagian and Falmouth Divers, General Offshore has reformed. General Offshore has retained key members of the original team including Graham, Andy and Nigel Shaw, Chris Butler and Steve Roue. They have been joined by newcomers such as Lee Waghorn, Ivan Lees and Simon Jones, who bring significant expertise in route clearance, cable recovery, ROV operations and administrative support. In addition, General Offshore is supported by the resources and personnel (totalling more than 40) of the three companies listed above. General Offshore continues to work within the shallow water industry and has also diversified into areas such as diving, route clearance, cable recovery and security aspects of the industry as a result of the significant expertise available to
the company. Nigel Shaw, General Offshore’s Planning Manager, shares his diary notes from some of the projects carried out by the team during its first year back in “shallow waters”.
Extreme tides in the Channel Isles
“Our first contract came in last autumn, and involved the recovery of some 70 cables and the installation of another 20 cables for a trials range in the Western Approaches off Scotland. A tricky confined beach, it gave us plenty of practice in handling and landing cables and brought the skills and experience of the team quickly back into focus.”
“During the spring and early summer, we installed two cables in the challenging conditions of the Channel Islands, north of the French coast. The tidal range is up to 10 metres around the islands and, as a result, the tidal streams can peak at up to 7 knots. Adding to the complexity of the job is the seabed which is very rocky with some rocks breaking the surface disconcertingly close to the cable route. Landing, laying and post-lay burying the cables from a shallow draft vessel, required careful planning and co-ordination of our resources in order to complete these operations successfully.”
Working all hours – landing another cable at night in the Western Approaches off Scotland
Smile, you’re on TV! – Guernsey Cable landing being recorded by a TV crew.
The Western Approaches
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