EQUIPMENT & CABLING 


ROVs to investigate seabed ‘jungle’


 Remotely operated vehicles are to be used to survey the ‘jungle’ of Caspian seabed as new pipelines are laid.


 Ferngesteuerte Fahrzeuge sollen eingesetzt werden, um den „Urwald“ des Kaspischen Meeresboden während des Verlegens von neuen Pipelines zu überwachen.


 Se van a utilizar vehículos controlados remotamente para inspeccionar la “jungla” submarina del mar Caspio a medida que se van colocando nuevos conductos.


W


ith the Caspian seabed a hazardous jungle of un-recorded old pipes and cables from the


Soviet era, a Cougar XT ROV from Saab Seaeye is to become a vital investigative tool now that new pipelines are being laid. After a favourable experience operating


the vehicle elsewhere, highly skilled engineers of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, (SOCAR), decided to deploy the Cougar XT in the Caspian Sea for their underwater applications. Te ROV will be used for diving and pipeline inspection of the SOCAR current projects, and for future seabed inspection as new pipes are laid. In addition to pipeline inspection and


seabed survey, it will be used for a variety of tasks including the inspection and survey of vessels and platform legs.


Upgraded video package SOCAR has taken a high-spec version of the 2000m rated Cougar XT with an upgraded video package including two Kongsberg high-definition mono low-light cameras, two Kongsberg colour zoom cameras, pan and tilt platform and LED lighting. A suite of Tritech equipment including a


Fig. 1. The Cygnus ultrasonic thickness gauge and CP probes.


Super SeaKing Sonar with a dual frequency profiling sonar head, a side scan sonar, and


altimeter, is also fitted, along with a Tritech bathy system. Te Cougar XT comes with two


five-function heavy duty manipulators, a grabber jaw, camera boom adaptors for the manipulators with Seaeye colour camera fitted, a water jetting system, cleaning brush assembly, 4inch hydraulic rotary disc cutter, 38mm anvil cutter, Cygnus ultrasonic thickness gauge and CP probes. Tree removable skids are supplied: a tooling skid, wheeled skid and an AX ring skid with AX ring removal tool and additional buoyancy. Te ROV will be launched from a Saab


Seaeye stainless steel tether management system fitted with a camera and upgraded MUXs. Deploying the Cougar will be a crane style launch and recovery system, supplied with a bullet/swivel assembly and lock latch assembly, together with an A60 zone ll rated ROV control cabin.


Maintenance and repair French Jifmar Offshore Services has


ordered two Saab Seaeye Cougar XT ROVs for a new Algerian contract. Tis new project will involve work at


three different oil terminal points where the ROVs will be used for inspection, maintenance and repair (IRM) tasks on structures, pipes, manifolds and the umbilicals at five SPM buoys. For Jifmar, reliability was paramount in


their choice of ROV. “We chose Saab Seaeye because we trust


the reliability of their ROVs,” says Jean- Michel Berud, president of Jifmar Offshore Services. He explains that Te Cougars will undertake a number of vital tasks that include checking the critical shape of the ‘Chinese lantern’ buoy structure and determining chain integrity. To check the shape and location of these


structures, the ROVs will be fitted with a 3D multibeam sonar. And the chain thickness measured using a Tritech Typhoon laser scaling system. Jifmar is also planning to fit a water


17 IHSS


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