Aberdeen, UK-based subsea services provider Bibby Offshore reports it has successfully secured an important contract with BP. The 15-day project, due to commence in August 2016, will see diving support vessel Bibby Topaz working on four BP operations across three of BP’s North Sea assets.

The platforms involved include central North Sea-based asset Bruce, east of Shetland-based Magnus and the Mirren field, which is part of the Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP), one of the largest and most complex North Sea oil and gas developments of the past 20 years.

The project, managed by the Bibby Offshore team, involves the supply of air and saturation diving support to perform operations including spool and flowline disconnection, evaluation and installation of conductor clamp guides, alignment clamp installation and modifications to a gas lift system.

INNOVATION
Fraser Moonie, chief operating officer at Bibby Offshore, said: “Encouraging innovation is one of our core values and it was through our team’s innovative approach that we were successful in being awarded this contract from BP. Through our innovative engineering solution we managed to reduce offshore operations which in turn provided efficiencies and cost savings.”

He added: “We are pleased to continue our strong relationship with BP, built up internationally over the last ten years and more recently in the UK North Sea. Client satisfaction and confidence is imperative to Bibby Offshore and we are pleased that BP has trusted us with this important piece of repeat business.”

Aberdeen, UK-headquartered ROV provider ROVOP has been awarded £3 million worth of new contracts, which sees the company expanding into two new territories. For the first time, ROVOP will complete projects in South East Asia and Mexico.

The firm has also announced the appointment of Neil Francis as vice president of business development in Houston, USA.

ROVOP chief executive Steven Gray said: “The market remains challenging but our ability to save operating costs for our customers, while using the best equipment and personnel on the market, means we continue to enjoy regular contract wins.

“These awards further encourage the successful establishment of our Houston office last year and build on the completion of several workscopes in the US Gulf of Mexico and Central and South America over the past three years.

“ROVOP has reduced its pricing to ensure we are competitive and meet our client’s requirements in this challenging market. The challenge the industry faces should not be underestimated but we are working to reduce costs for customers by reducing vessel time and increase efficiency.”

On the addition of Francis to the ROVOP team, commercial director Euan Tait said: “Neil’s appointment will act as a catalyst for our future ambitions. He has exceptional experience and knowledge of the industry. His role as vice president of business development will further improve our reputation of providing excellence to our customers and is an important part of our plans to step into new territories to further strengthen our position.”

Sea Trucks Group, Nigeria, has been awarded a contract from Enap Sipetrol Argentina for a pipelay construction project for the PIAM project in the Magallanes field, offshore Argentina.

The scope of work covers engineering, project management and installation of three pipelines of various sizes ranging from six to 14 inches (15.2 to 35.6 centimetres), with one shore approach, as well as the installation of tie-in spools and risers.

It also includes abandonment of two existing lines and recovery of flexibles, Sea Trucks said.

At the back of the installation campaign, Sea Trucks has also been awarded an accommodation services contract.

Jascon 34, one of the group’s DP3 pipelay construction and accommodation vessels, has been nominated for both scopes.

Jacques Roomans, president of Sea Trucks, said: “We are delighted that, in the present difficult market, Sea Trucks has been awarded this significant contract. This award demonstrates our ability to offer clients a flexible and tailored project solution based around the clients requirement, our extensive track record and unique multi purpose DP3 assets.”

UK whisky road haulier McPherson has purchased an AC-ROV 100 from AC-CESS, UK, to examine the internal welds, baffles and valves of its tankers to meet periodic inspection requirements.

Ian Jamieson, fleet engineering director of McPherson, said: “Using the AC-ROV avoids the high risk ‘man-in-tank’.”

Jamieson said he sees the AC-ROV 100 as the way forward for capturing evidence of the inspection. The date and time marked video survey is recorded real-time onto a SD card built into the AC-ROV system. The file can be transferred or referred to in the future by any auditing authority or McPherson technicians the next time each tanker goes through an inspection, he said.

UK-based Caley Ocean Systems reports it is supplying Singapore-based diving and subsea equipment company Flash Tekk Engineering with saturation dive bell handling systems for the Ultra Deep Solutions, Singapore, DSCVs Deep Installer and Van Gogh.

The handling systems are designed for deployment and recovery of a 24-man DNV classed twin bell saturation dive system for the Deep Installer and a DNV classed 18-man bell saturation dive system for the Van Gogh, for operations to 300 metres water depth. On each of the vessels, the bell is deployed via a moon pool using the Caley bell handling system featuring two clump weight guide wire winches and main bell cable winch. The systems are fully DNV classed approved.

Gregor McPherson, sales director, Caley Ocean Systems, said: “Caley’s experience in dive bell handling systems engineering gives us the edge for this kind of project; where the combination of winch technology and control elements allows us to ensure that all aspects of the dive bell system are fully optimised.”

Kongsberg Maritime, Norway, has been chosen to deliver an integrated subsea technology systems package including two HUGIN AUVs for a new Peruvian Navy hydrographic and oceanographic research vessel. The 97-metre BAP Carrasco is being constructed at Construcciones Navales P Freire shipyard in Vigo, Spain, and was launched in May this year.

The research ship will have polar capability and be classified with PC7 notation to perform research in Peruvian waters, in order to fulfill Peru’s commitment under the Antarctic Treaty. The Kongsberg technology on board will form the platform for the Peruvian Navy to perform missions within hydrography, oceanology, geology, biology and geophysics.

The full scope of supply includes an EM122 deepwater multibeam echosounder, EA600 single beam echosounder, SBP120 sub-bottom profiler, Simrad EK80 scientific single beam multi-frequency echo-sounder, two HUGIN AUVs with hydrographic, geology and geophysics configurations for high-resolution survey rated to 3000 metres depth and a high-precision acoustic positioning (HiPAP) system.