Back-deck equipment specialist Maritime Developments (MDL) has completed two projects for subsea services provider TechnipFMC in two North Sea basins.
Specifically, MDL flex-lay spread has completed two subsea, umbilicals, risers and flowline (SURF) installations for TechnipFMC.
The MDL flex-lay spread, consisting of a second-generation reel drive system (RDS), four-track pipelay tensioner, and an overboarding chute, was mobilised onboard the diving support vessel (DSV) Deep Arctic .
According to the company, the system was mobilised to execute a 70.4-millimetre umbilical installation in the UK North Sea in September.
Following the end of the first project, the vessel entered into Norwegian waters where the spread was deployed to lay a 5” flexible jumper.
“ The versatility of MDL equipment meant that the spread could handle the varying reel sizes – between 8.6 metres and 9.2 metres – with the same deck layout , MDL said.
The company added that by utilising both two-track and four-track modes on the tensioner, as well as the tensioner’s low-squeeze mode, the difference in product OD from 70-millimetre to 177.10-millimetre diameter was handled efficiently without any issues.
“These two projects are a perfect example of how open communications between all parties add value to offshore operations. By combining the two projects into a single vessel campaign, mobilisation/de-mobilisation costs and time were cut in half, compared to carrying out these installations as standalone missions” , said Pehlaj Tenneti , MDL project manager.
“With TechnipFMC’s teams on both sides of the North Sea collaborating on the execution schedules, the idle time between these two installations was also reduced to a minimum”.
Earlier this year, the MDL flex-lay spread was also used to install two six-inch flexible jumpers for the engineering and marine services company DOF Subsea offshore Angola.