Fugro is to provide offshore survey and positioning services at the Kaombo oil development offshore Angola. Under a contract awarded by Technip, Fugro will provide offshore deepwater survey and positioning services to a total of seven installation vessels and construction support vessels. The number of vessels as well as the stringent schedule for the work requires complex simultaneous operations.

LBL acoustic positioning networks provide ultra-accurate subsea positioning at Kaombo development

Described by operator Total as ‘a new frontier in Angolan oil and gas,’ Kaombo is a landmark project that presents significant geological and technical challenges. Located in ultra-deep water (up to 2,000 metres), it features pre-lay and as-built surveys, ultra-accurate subsea positioning and metrologies using the largest subsea transponder array ever deployed.

Peter Boon, Fugro’s Business Development Manager for Africa highlights how the company meets the challenges of the simultaneous operations and complex logistics involved in this project. “Fugro and Technip have been working together successfully for many years and our innovative solutions have provided them with reliable data, ensuring successful construction operations. This project is no exception. Our extensive experience in Angola also enables us to support the Kaombo project from our local base with a team that includes competent Angolan nationals.”

The Kaombo project is a development at Block 32, located approximately 260 kilometres offshore Luanda in water depths ranging from 1,400 to 2,000 metres. It includes six fields which will be tied back to two converted FPSOs.

The contract commences in the second half of 2016 and is scheduled to continue until early 2018

With profit margins under pressure, oil and gas companies are focused on getting more out of existing assets while significantly reducing capital expenditure. Recent data shows that a 5% improvement in Opex could save £490 million on the UK Continental Shelf alone. The new DNV GL release of Maros and Taro software provides powerful tools to support these improvements.

Software for RAM analysis

With the new release of DNV GL’s Maros software for reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) analysis for the upstream oil and gas industry, and its sister application Taro for refineries and petrochemical plants, the software for optimizing design and production has become even more powerful. With more effective optimization of existing assets, including identifying mitigation options and bottlenecks, production rates can be increased by 10%.

Engineers will realize step changes in the software when they secure optimized margins by developing RAM studies and asset management techniques, collaborating across disciplines and departments, including design, maintenance and operations. The Maros and Taro software solutions have more modeling features, improved animation, more products streams and many new usability functionalities, including a new Resource grid.

Performance improvements

"We’ve seen an ever increasing focus in the last two years on increasing performance and reducing costs," says Are Føllesdal Tjønn, CEO of DNV GL - Software. "Reliability tracking, optimum use of maintenance resources, operational efficiency and valuable asset management insights are key factors that can be achieved when different departments collaborate, reducing operational and capital expenditure while maintaining expected production levels – all in a safe and sustainable way. This is exactly what Maros and Taro can deliver,” he says.

More speed and functions

The new release of Maros increase simulation speed by as much as 40% for models where a large number of events leave overall flow calculation unchanged. During the operational stage, the Sensitivity Manager module allows the user to perform comparisons of key metrics for variations in an analysis’s data such as maintenance resources availability and reliability data for the entire asset.

With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) many process plants are becoming smarter and newly developed advanced data analytics are enabling more valuable insights via integrated analysis not possible before these latest technological advances. “Engineering in the context of mega-trends, such as the IoT, Industry 4.0 and smart analytics, shows how DNV GL is well positioned for developing an integrated asset management world,” says Dr Nic Cavanagh, Director of Technology and Products at DNV GL - Software.

About Maros and Taro

DNV GL’s Maros is an advanced RAM (reliability, availability, maintainability) tool specifically developed for the upstream oil and gas industry. It includes extensive features for modeling flow networks, maintenance strategies, typical upstream oil and gas operations, transport logistics and storage tanks. Taro software from DNV GL is a comprehensive plant-wide lifecycle performance analysis solution.

With Taro you can model complex process plant systems and make optimal decisions on design, operation and maintenance based on a quantitative performance analysis. Raw plant data such as configuration and equipment reliability can be integrated into a model of the plant, allowing you to change parameters and assess their impact for optimizations of key performance drivers.

In London, Harvey Gulf International Marine has been named Ship Owner of the Year by the Offshore Support Journal, recognizing that Harvey, “above all other companies, has shown excellence in the operation of its ship(s) and has, in the past year, demonstrated an exemplary record of achievement in the management of one or more of business development and growth, of safety, quality, efficiency and environmental sustainability.”

Harvey Gulf also announced that it has signed 5-year charters for 2 more of its LNG-powered Offshore Supply Vessels. The charters will commence upon delivery of the HARVEY FREEDOM and HARVEY AMERICA, the 4^th and 5^th of Harvey’s 6 LNG-powered vessels. The charters come during one of the softest OSV markets in decades, demonstrating a clear advantage for clean burning LNG power.

Harvey Gulf's CEO, Shane Guidry, commented “I am very honored to accept this prestigious award on behalf of Harvey Gulf. It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all Harvey Gulf employees. It shows our company culture of putting safety first, paying attention to detail, and planning for the future needs of our industry and customers.”

Harding extended its string of offshore successes with contracts for deliveries of lifeboats and davits to the Culzean offshore gas complex, to be constructed for owner Maersk Oil UK by Sembcorp Marine subsidiary SMOE PteLtd of Singapore.

The Culzean win gives Harding a sweep of the latest big offshore contracts, including deliveries of lifeboats and davits to the Heerema heavy lift semisubmersible crane Sleipnir and to the giant Johan Sverdrup field center.

"We have worked hard to strengthen our position in today's difficult offshore market," says Harding's global director of sales Bjørn Sturle Hillestad. "Winning the Culzean project was a key strategic goal in this process."

Culzean is one of the largest gas discoveries of recent years in the UK North Sea, and the field center will comprise a 12-slot wellhead platform (WHP) linked by bridges to a central processing facility (CPF) supported by a floating storage and offloading vessel (FSO), and an installation for utilities and living quarters (ULQ).

Harding will deliver three FF1200 lifeboats to the ULQ and one FF1200 to the WHP, both with LA1200SU davits. The davits are scheduled for delivery by March 2017, with the lifeboats to follow in December of the same year. The WHP/FSO contract is still in bid phase.

The FF1200 is a 70-person freefall lifeboat designed to meet the most stringent standards in the industry, and with just more than 100 delivered, it is among the most popular in the industry. The LA1200SU is a skid-launch davit specially designed for the FF1200.

“Competition isn’t getting any easier, so we are very happy and proud to have won these latest contracts,” reports Harding Regional Sales Director Odd Åge Helvik.

Harding attributes its success to a combination of high quality, a strong local presence, and central expertise.

“We have our eyes and ears in Singapore, and that allows us to respond quickly to openings, and establish good contacts with the owner and the yard,” Helvik says. “Then we mobilize the technical team to tailor deliveries to the customer’s requirements.”

Communication is king

Bjørn Sturle Hillestad, Harding’s Global Sales and Marketing Director, emphasises that good communications are key in winning good contracts. “Our first job is to earn customer confidence, to build their trust in Harding quality, and we have plenty of good references to help us there,” he relates. “Then we listen. We learn about their concerns and preferences, and help them to understand that we are committed to delivering exactly what they need, not just a standard product line.”

Hillestad also want to emphasise the value of a true team effort: “No one person is responsible for our success. We are a global team, and we believe the customers see the advantage of this.”

In a tough market, though, continued success is never guaranteed. “We are bucking the current right now,” Odd Åge Helvik acknowledges. “We realise the only way to maintain success is to keep delivering quality, and keep giving the customer what they really want.”

Rolls-Royce has signed a £8 million contract to supply the mooring system for the world’s largest semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV), Sleipnir. The vessel will be built in Singapore by SembCorp Marine for the Dutch company Heerema Offshore Services.

Asbjørn Skaro, Rolls-Royce, Executive Vice President – Deck Machinery, said: “Mooring a giant crane is a challenge we are happy to tackle, and it’s a great pleasure working with SembCorp Marine on this unique project. The system to be delivered by Rolls-Royce builds on decades of experience with advanced deck machinery for both vessels and floating units.

Mooring systems from Rolls-Royce are designed to operate safely in the harshest climatic zones. For this vessel – the “Sleipnir” – Rolls-Royce will deliver a tailor made equipment package for specific operations, comprising a 12 point mooring system including electric driven winches, fairleads, wire sheaves and also a control system.

When completed the vessel will be 220 meters in length, have a width of 102 meters and a displacement of 273,700 tons at maximum operational draft. It will be equipped with two cranes of 10,000 tons lifting capacity each, providing the heavy lifting capacity to install and remove offshore facilities and install subsea structures, foundations, moorings, and floating structures in deep water. The Sleipnir will be self-propelled with a transit speed of 10 knots, and will operate on dual-fuel.

The vessel is scheduled to be delivered from the yard in the second half of 2018.

CGG has announced that it will commence a multi-client airborne gravity and magnetic survey offshore Mexico. The Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH) has authorized the program, which will include the acquisition of approximately 200,000 line kilometers over six areas across the Mexican Gulf of Mexico.

Data acquisition will commence in March 2016 and is anticipated to take twelve months utilizing specialized geophysical survey aircraft. The project has received significant prefunding from the oil industry.

Location of areas covered by CGG’s multi-client airborne gravity and magnetic survey offshore Mexico.

CGG believes that the Mexican Gulf of Mexico has significant new petroleum potential, both in the shallow and deepwater areas and that CGG’s ability to image complex geological environments will help unlock that potential. The survey will provide coverage over the most prospective areas from the prolific Perdido fold belt with AOI 1, to the more mature near-shore heavy oil belt with AOI 6. The data will help explorers map crystalline basement and magnetic and density anomalies within the sedimentary section. The airborne survey will also collect continuous data through the “transition zone” from the marine environment to onshore.

A comprehensive interpretation, combining this new data set with available geologic and geophysical data, will also be undertaken by CGG’s in-house interpretation team. Deliverables will include a full geophysical interpretation report, including definition of basement lithology and structure, mapping of sediment fairways and depositional-centers and any intrusives or salt which may be present in the sedimentary section. The final results will be presented in ArcGIS^® format for assimilation into the clients’ own seismic, geological and well control databases. These survey deliverables will provide important insights to exploration and de-risking of prospective areas by oil companies.

Jean-Georges Malcor, CEO, CGG, said: "This airborne gravity and magnetic survey offshore Mexico will be a significant addition to our existing gravity & magnetic database in the Gulf of Mexico where we have over 1,000,000 line kilometers of multi-client data. Combined with our other seismic, geologic and satellite multi-client data in Mexico, this new airborne survey will provide a unique geoscience-rich library to support the successful exploration and economic development of this high-potential area for many years to come.”

Wärtsilä has signed a contract with Shanghai Bestway Marine Engineering Design Co Ltd to design a new type of deep water dive support vessel. The ship is to be built for China state-owned Shanghai Salvage Bureau (SSB), one of the largest professional salvage companies in China. The contract with Wärtsilä was signed in January.

The Wärtsilä design features a unique combination of capabilities, including deep water (6000 meters) salvage operations, deep water pipe laying and construction work, and saturation (SAT) diving operations for 24 divers using two diving bells. SAT diving is a technique that allows divers to reduce the risk of decompression sickness when working at great depths for extended periods of time. All the design features are based on a single platform operating with DP3, the highest class of Dynamic Positioning. When built, this will be the world’s first SAT diving support vessel with Multi-Lay and ultra deep water construction capabilities.

Image courtesy: Wärtsilä

“For a complex vessel design such as this involving the needed sub-sea equipment, both extensive experience and broad know-how are absolutely essential. Wärtsilä was selected because of our strengths in both these areas. This contract highlights once again the value of the proven, sophisticated, and integrated system designs that Wärtsilä produces for the global marine market,” says Riku-Pekka Hägg, Vice President, Ship Design, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.

“The new vessel will certainly be the most sophisticated asset in our fleet. It will carry out operations in very deep waters and in often difficult conditions. We believe the Wärtsilä design will meet all our requirements for successful operations,” says Mr. Huang Yan, Director of Deep Diving Technology Development Center, SSB.

Wärtsilä has proven experience and an impressive track record in designing similar vessels of this type. The contract with SSB covers initial and basic design of the ship, meaning that class and flag authority related drawings for the purpose of finalizing the necessary approvals and certifications, will be supplied. Wärtsilä will also provide the basic references for future, more detailed engineering requirements for building the vessel.

Statoil has signed a farm-in agreement with Tullow to acquire a 35% working interest in offshore exploration block 15 in the Pelotas basin, deepening its position in Uruguay.

"With this transaction, we are increasing our exposure to the upside potential of this untested geological setting. This is in line with Statoil' exploration strategy of access at scale," says Nicholas Alan Maden, senior vice president of Exploration.

Map Image : Courtesy Statoil

Recently Statoil announced its entry into Uruguay as partner in exploration block 14. By accessing the adjacent block 15 Statoil continues to pursue this regional geological trend.

Block 15 covers an area of more than 8,000 km2 and sits in water depth of 2,000-3,000 meters. Tullow Uruguay Limited. Sucursal Uruguay remains the operator with 35% working interest, while INPEX Uruguay Limited holds the remaining interest. The transaction is subject to government approval.

A comprehensive data collection program has already been completed in the block. As operator, Tullow is planning to collect further 3D seismic before a decision is made on further steps.

Unique Group has added Nortek’s long range profiling instrument Signature55 to its global lease pool. The instrument has been acquired to give oil and gas customers flexible access to long range profiling capability. Unique Group chose the Signature55 because of its ability to provide ocean current profiling over a range of 1000 m. Another decisive factor was that the Signature55 works well for high-quality current measurements with fine vertical resolution (5 m cells). This makes the Signature55 well suited to customers working in 100-500 m depth, as well as 500-1000 m depth.

The Signature55 gives oil and gas customers flexible access to long range profiling capability.

All American Marine, Inc. (AAM) was recently awarded a contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for the design and construction of a new hydrofoil supported aluminum catamaran survey vessel. The vessel will primarily perform survey missions and some dive operations in support of dredging work planned within the Corps’ Philadelphia District. USACE has designated that the new catamaran will replace the aging survey boat, Shuman, which currently fills the mission critical role. The 68’ x 26’ custom aluminum catamaran will be designed by Teknicraft Design, Ltd. of Auckland, New Zealand. This contract follows the successful delivery of the 62’ Florida II, foil assisted survey vessel that AAM was previously awarded to construct for the USACE Jacksonville District.

The aluminum hull will feature the Teknicraft Design signature hull shape with symmetrical bow, asymmetrical tunnel, and integrated wave piercer. A custom aluminum hydrofoil will be fit to span between the sponsons to generate lift of the semi displacement hulls and enhance performance. Teknicraft has been designing hydrofoil supported vessels for over 20 years and has become a leader in this market. Power for the propeller driven vessel will be provided by a pair of Caterpillar C18 diesel engines rated 1001 bhp @ 2300 rpm, with an EPA Tier III emissions rating. Auxiliary power will be supplied via twin Northern Lights C40M.3 40.kW generators. The suite of deck gear includes a hydraulic A-frame, davit, scientific winch, and moon pool with deployable sonar strut. Dive platforms will be fit to the transom of each sponson. The 28 knot cruise speed will allow the Corps to get to the survey site much quicker, which in turn will allow for more time on site and greater data collection in less time.

All American Marine Inc., located on the shores of Bellingham Bay, was founded in 1987 and specializes in the construction of custom tailored aluminum boats. Today, the company has become a leading builder of high speed passenger catamarans, survey craft, and research vessels. All American Marine is the exclusive builder for Teknicraft Design Ltd. catamarans in North America.

Harvey Gulf has once again shown its commitment to utilizing LNG as a marine fuel with the opening of the first marine LNG fueling terminal in North America. Less than a year after the delivery of the M/V HARVEY ENERGY, America’s first LNG-powered vessel, Harvey Gulf accomplished another first when it completed a successful LNG bunkering of the ENERGY from the newly constructed LNG terminal facility at its operation base in Port Fourchon, Louisiana. The bunkering included the transfer of 43,000 gallons of LNG in approximately 2.25 hours without incident.

The terminal is designed to meet the requirements of 33 CFR part 127 NFPA 59A, and able to deliver LNG at a pumping rate of 550 GMP. The total on site storage is approximately 270,000 gallons contained in three 90,000 USG type “C” vacuum insulated tanks.

Shane Guidry, Chairman and CEO of Harvey Gulf, commented: "This a testament to Harvey Gulf's commitment to promoting the use of LNG, a clean, abundant, and cost-effective alternative marine fuel. With the completion of our LNG terminal at Port Fourchon, we are able to provide a LNG bunkering point at the epicenter of marine operations for the Gulf of Mexico, which is vital to continuing the shift to LNG as a marine fuel.”

The M/V Harvey Energy and her sister ship the M/V Harvey Power, both LNG powered Offshore Supply Vessels, are under charter to Shell and support Shell’s Gulf of Mexico assets.

The ground-breaking ‘Onboard Training System’ (OTS), developed by recently acquired Kongsberg Maritime company SMSC, won the prestigious Dynamic Positioning Award at the Offshore Support Journal Conference, Awards & Exhibition in London last week. The sophisticated system, which allows users to control a real vessel under DP, but within a simulated environment, was recognized by the award judges as a completely unique and positive new approach to Dynamic Positioning Operator (DPO) training.

Image Courtesy: SMSC

With the OTS concept, the vessel is controlled in a normal manner by a deck officer on the bridge, either by the use of manual controls or by the use of Dynamic Positioning (DP). The vessel’s motion and position in the virtual world is calculated based on input from the vessel’s navigational aids (minimum GPS and Gyro) and shown on a dedicated screen. While the vessel is actually in safe, open waters, the virtual world can contain imaginary objects and installations (such as rigs, buoys, piers, etc.) shown on the screen. Using this setup, the DP operator can simulate approach to a platform or other installations, docking the ship at any port, navigating in narrow and constricted waters, and various other operations.

During training, the real DP system is live, so the vessel physically moves according to input, but the operator sees the results in the simulated visual scene. In this way, instructors can introduce any conditions or combination of targets, allowing them to create exercises that deliver real-life experience, with the flexibility to train on specific operations or areas of competence. The concept, which is already in use on several vessels, enables DPOs to understand how a vessel really responds to their commands, whilst interacting with virtual objects in a simulated environment, with the flexibility to introduce any tasks or conditions.

SMSC was nominated for the award by Simon Møkster Shipping, who co-developed this unique take on DP training and simulation to ensure high competence across its workforce. Nils A. Liaaen at Simon Møkster Shipping commented; “We place a great emphasis on safety onboard all of our ships, and we see the correlation between relevant training and improved skills of our personnel. We are particularly looking for three things; familiarisation with equipment and vessel, ‘flight time’ on DP, and practice on incidents like interruptions, system errors and so forth. We were keen to nominate SMSC for this award because the OTS meets these requirements with a very unique approach.”

Knut Jarle Lysklett, Project Manager OTS, SMSC added: “The OTS was up against strong competition on the shortlist so we are delighted to have been selected as the winner. The award reflects the depths of our collaboration with our existing clients; Simon Møkster Shipping, Solstad Shipping, Siem Offshore and GDF SUEZ, and the technical expertise of the SMSC team. As a new member of the Kongsberg Maritime family, we are looking forward to developing the OTS even further and contributing to the world-leading K-Sim simulator portfolio with new and unique solutions for offshore vessel training.”

The Annual Offshore Support Journal Awards, taking place on the evening of February 3rd 2016, is one of the most anticipated events in the offshore support calendar. Each year more than 500 attendees from all sectors of the offshore business gather in London to celebrate the industry's best performances from the past year. The Dynamic Positioning Award is “awarded to the developer of an innovative product or DP system, or contractor responsible for an especially innovative application of DP on a project.” The winner is voted for by the readers of Offshore Support Journal through internet-based reconciliation ahead of the conference. Nearly 100,000 votes were cast across the award categories in total.

Statoil has agreed with OMV to acquire a 30% working interest in Petroleum Exploration Permit (PEP) 57073. This will further strengthen Statoil’s position in New Zealand.

The permit covers an area of 9,800 square kilometers in the East Coast Basin, and sits in water depths of 1,000-2,000 meters. OMV will remain the operator with 70% working interest. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

“This is an underexplored area with the potential for multiple plays, offering a considerable exploration upside,” says Nicholas Alan Maden, senior vice president for Exploration.

The permit is adjacent to permits 57083, 57085 and 57087 which were awarded to Chevron and Statoil in 2014.

“We now hold a working interest in more than 46,000 square kilometers of exploration acreage in New Zealand, and all of these permits have staged exploration programs. This is in line with our exploration strategy of accessing at scale,” says Maden.

OMV and Statoil will work together on the exploration program in PEP 57073. This includes geological and geophysical studies, as well as seismic acquisition over the coming years. The work will provide information necessary to decide, in 2021, if a well commitment should be made in the permit.

In addition to the partnerships with Chevron and OMV in the East Coast and Pegasus basins, Statoil also operates two exploration permits in the Reinga basin.

The DRS4D-NXT is a Solid-State Radar with pulse compression and Doppler frequency shift sensing technology, built into a compact 24” Radome. This “NXT” (read “next”) generation Radar is designed for use with both NavNet TZtouch and TZtouch2 MFDs. The DRS4D-NXT is packed with new features, but perhaps the most innovative and revolutionary is called “Target Analyzer”, facilitated by Furuno’s Doppler technology. The Doppler “Target Analyzer” will automatically change the color of targets approaching your boat to clearly show any hazards. Green echoes are stationary targets, land, or approaching targets moving at a velocity of less than 3 knots. Echoes dynamically turn red when targets are approaching your vessel at a speed of 3 knots or faster. It works the same when you are following another vessel. If the target is getting closer at a speed of 3 knots or more, the echo will be depicted in red on the screen. Incredibly, “Target Analyzer” works independently of one’s own ship speed!

The DRS4D-NXT is the first radar in the world to use the new FURUNO exclusive Target Analyzer™ function.

Tracking and interpreting threats is now easier than ever with the DRS4D-NXT Radar. Using Furuno’s advanced Doppler technology, this new Radar acquires and tracks targets in virtually every sweep, or just a few seconds. Almost instantly, you will see the target’s speed and course vector. If the target is hazardous, it will also be displayed in red, making it easier to identify and predict its course. The NXT Radar’s incredible ARPA signal processor will display and track up to 100 targets in a single sweep! The entire target theatre can be viewed, monitored, and tracked simultaneously, at any range. For an even more detailed display, target trails and Furuno’s unique True Trail feature can be utilized, allowing you to graphically see the direction in which a target is moving, independent of your own vessel’s motion.

The resolution of this dome Radar is impressive on its own, with a 3.9-degree horizontal beam width, but Furuno took it a step further by incorporating their exclusive RezBoost^TM beam sharpening technology to increase performance. With RezBoost^TM set to maximum, the NXT Radome’s beamwidth is synthetically sharpened to the equivalent of 2 degrees, providing enhanced target separation that was previously only available on larger, open array Radar antennas.

An all-new “Bird Mode” is yet another standard feature of the DRS4D-NXT. With a single selection on the MFD, the Radar automatically adjusts settings for echo enhancement to help you locate birds. For those fishing fanatics, finding the birds is an important step to zeroing-in on the bite.

CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. joins with multiple agencies and universities in receiving a second award for the team’s successful partnership on the Deepwater Canyons project.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced that the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) will present the 2015 Excellence in Partnering Award to a team, managed by CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. (CSA), that participated in the Atlantic Canyons: Pathways to the Abyss project. The ceremony will take place on Tuesday, February 23, during the Ocean Sciences 2016 in New Orleans.

In its announcement, NOPP stated: “This accolade is presented annually to the research team that best demonstrates the partnership objectives of the NOPP, recognizing the project’s commitment to partnering, the success of the partnership effort, and the impact of the partnership on knowledge and stewardship of our ocean.” This was second award received by the team, an unprecedented achievement in the 19-year history of the NOPP. The project’s work is the subject of a 23-minute HD video on the project that is available here.

“On behalf of CSA, we are extremely honored to be a part of the team receiving this award. The objectives of this contract were ambitious, but we were able to fulfill all the goals of the project,” said Steve Viada, Senior Scientist at CSA.

CSA provides mission critical support to complex offshore operations for both private sector and governmental agencies around the global. As the project’s prime contractor, CSA managed the team through several years of field research and subsequent analysis and reporting. The team included staff from BOEM, USGS, NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, and a dozen universities and research institutions. A CSA Senior Scientist also served as Co-Chief Scientist on multiple segments of the program’s research cruises.

Surveys focused on The Baltimore and Norfolk deepwater canyons which are ancient drainage basins located approximately 80 kilometers offshore of Virginia and Maryland. During its work, the study team discovered new shipwrecks, deep, cold-water corals and unexpectedly, extensive methane seeps with exotic biological assemblages. The team also deployed long-term probes to collect data regarding ocean currents, chemistry and temperature that significantly expands the understanding of coastal circulation.

Additional information regarding the Atlantic Canyons program and the research cruises is available here.

HARKAND has completed an inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) campaign for BP Trinidad and Tobago (BPTT) utilizing the Harkand Da Vinci diving support vessel (DSV) and the company’s new hyperbaric rescue facility (HRF) in the Caribbean.

The IRM scope included deadleg inspection of BPTT offshore assets, pipeline intervention, caisson repair works, platform and pipeline clamps installation and inspection and recovery of a caisson section. Harkand provided a full suite of services including saturation and surface diving, ROV, survey, inspection as well as project management and engineering for the execution of the campaign.

This was also the first project for the new HRF built by Harkand in the Gulf of Mexico in August 2015. The HRF was set up in Chaguaramas on the North West peninsula of Trinidad for the campaign.

John Reed, Harkand chief executive officer said: “Securing this contract with BP Trinidad and Tobago was a significant win in the region. The work involved an array of specialist subsea services and engineering, cementing our track record in the area.”

Reed added: “This work followed successful campaigns by both the Houston and Aberdeen operation bases in the Caribbean during 2014 and 2015 for major global oil and gas operators. We are extremely pleased to add BPTT to our client base in the area.”

The IMCA compliant, DNV classed Harkand Da Vinci is equipped with a 140 Te active heave compensated (AHC) crane, an 18-man twin bell saturation diving system rated to 300 meter water depth, one 3-man wet bell and one 2-man surface diving system. The vessel was mobilized with two remotely operated vehicles (ROV) – one light work class and one inspection class ROV.