Sparrows Group, and its cable and pipe-lay solutions (CPLS) division, has been awarded a contract by Oceaneering International to design and manufacture two 500-tonne powered and jack-able under-rollers.
According to Sparrows, its new under-roller system is suitable for use with reels of up to 11.4m outer diameter. It provides up to 10 tonnes of line pull at the outer reel diameter which is particularly beneficial for steel-tubed umbilicals – a more rigid product that requires greater effort to spool around the reel.
The under-rollers will be designed and manufactured at the company’s facilities in Aberdeen before undergoing testing. They will then be delivered to Oceaneering in Panama City where Sparrows Group will perform the assembly and site acceptance testing.
Local after-care support for the under-rollers will be supplied by Sparrows Group’s service centre in Slidell, Louisiana.
Sparrows Group chief executive officer, Stewart Mitchell , said: “This contract award marks a significant milestone for Sparrows Group in that not only are the under-rollers believed to be the first of the design and capacity in the marketplace but it underlines the added value we bring through our integrated services, responsiveness and after-care support.”
The complete under-roller unit, when attached to a set of cradles, can be lifted via four lifting points. With packing structures for differing reel diameters the system can be used for differing reel cradles.
Each of the two 500-tonne under-roller systems includes two drive carriages, two idler/lift carriages and two spreader beams, one hydraulic power unit and one remote control unit as well as one lifting sling set and a set of interconnecting 15-metre deck hoses.
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