Ocean Installer, Norway, has been awarded a contract for SURF support work in Brazil for Saipem, Italy. The contract, which will see the Normand Clipper in Brazil for eight months, is valued at around US$50 million (GB£31 million), with options to extend.

“Ocean Installer will support Saipem with their installation of multiple steel catenary lazy wave risers, free-standing hybrid risers and export pipelines for the Iracema and Pre-Salt projects in the Santos Basin pre-salt area for Petrobras,” said a spokesman. “The scope of work includes a wide range of services including survey, TDP (touch down point) monitoring, metrology, installation aid deployment/recovery and pre-commissioning.”

Ocean Installer will make use of the construction support vessel Normand Clipper, which is suited for both shallow- and deepwater operations. The vessel has a DP2 system, 250-tonne crane capacity and 1700-square-metre deck.

UK-based Reef Subsea has announced it has been awarded a contract with AREVA Wind GmbH, Germany, to provide field support in the Global Tech I wind farm.

The project will utilise the Reef Despina, a multi-purpose DP2 construction support vessel, and will see the Reef Subsea team providing field support to AREVA Wind for the commissioning of 80 five-megawatt AREVA offshore turbines spread over 100 kilometres of coastline.

Duncan MacPherson, chief executive officer at Reef Subsea, said: “We are delighted to have secured this work scope with respected client AREVA Wind. We look forward to working with AREVA to add value to the Global Tech I project and build a long-term, mutually favourable relationship.

“This is the first project Reef Subsea has secured in German waters and we see it as an excellent opportunity to continue building on our exemplary track-record; as well as being the first step in our strategy to ensure we are in the optimum position for future German wind farm projects.”

OceanServer Technology, USA, has been awarded a contract for one Iver3 AUV by the US Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, Rhode Island. The system will include several Iver3 options just released including the Rowe Technologies, USA, SeaPILOT 600 kHz Doppler velocity log with ADCP.

“Rowe Technologies’ SeaPILOT family of Doppler velocity logs represents some of the industry’s newest and state-of-the-art acoustic Doppler technology,” said an OceanServer spokesman. “The compact form factor and powerful electronics provide a versatile platform capable of producing precise bottom referenced velocity and/or current profile measurements for ROVs, AUVs and other submersibles.

“For vehicle navigation applications that require a custom fit like the Iver3, RTI provided four individual piston transducers along with compact electronics to facilitate repackaging into the AUV.”

OceanServer’s family of Iver AUVs are utilised for coastal applications such as general survey work, subsurface security, environmental monitoring, behavioural research and sensor development by both academia and military organisations. The vehicles are single man-portable and feature simple point-and-click mission planning. The latest generation of Iver3 AUVs will offer two different Rowe Technologies DVL units in 600 kHz and 1200 kHz configurations.

Unique Hydra, South Africa, reports it has been selected by Ultra Deep Solutions (UDS), Singapore, to design, build and integrate the dive system for a multi-purpose diving support construction vessel.

The new DSCV will be equipped with a 300HD 18-man twin bell saturation diving system. The dive system incorporates the latest mechanical and electrical design requirements and offers a first in the drive towards reducing the complexity of shipyard integration and installation time frames, according to Unique Hydra.

The new DP3, 142-metre vessel is designed to operate in up to 4000 metres water depth and is modelled on the proprietary ‘Red Class 6027’ MT design DSCV.

Mike Jessop, managing director of Unique Hydra, said: “We are aware of our client’s requirement for a modern and reliable DSCV. The award of this project demonstrates our clients’ confidence in Unique Hydra’s in-depth technical capabilities, our strength in project execution and the considerable financial capabilities established through our corporate partnership recently formed with Blue Water Energy. We have increased our DSV solution capabilities over the last year and we are globally positioned to handle multiple DSV contracts. We strongly believe that over the next few years our brand and product will become the diving system of choice.”