Developments in Installation Technology for Seabed Seismic Cable Arrays

28 September 2011 North of England Branch Evening Meeting

Chairman Jon Greenwood, Chief Engineer & Engineering Skills Manager, IHC Engineering Business Ltd

Sponsored by CTC Marine Projects and Red Marine Ltd

Flyer  

Overview

In 2010 CTC Marine Projects undertook the installation of a novel seabed seismic array system in the Ekofisk oil field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The installation involved the simultaneous lay and burial of over 200km of fibre optic cabling, including over 4,500 seismic stations installed. From the outset it was clear that conventional approaches to the installation would not result in satisfactory project execution. In order to address the challenges, a number of equipment developments and innovations were necessary. This evening meeting provided an insight in to some of the solutions that were developed, in particular focusing on the design and build of a novel Cable Deployment System, developed by Red Marine Ltd as part of the project.

Presentations

Ekofisk Project Background

Steve Marshal, Project Manager, CTC Marine Projects

Steve started the session by giving some background information on Life of Field Seismic (LoFS) Systems and their architecture, along with the specific challenges associated with the Ekofisk field installation.

Development of Cable Deployment System

Magnus Campbell, Engineering Director, Red Marine Ltd

Following on from the general project introduction, Magnus spoke in more detail on the development of the Cable Deployment System (CDS). The CDS was an essential part of the installation spread and allowed simultaneous lay and burial to be conducted successfully. Providing the required functionality for this one piece of equipment presented its own series of challenges – from rapid concept development through to equipment build and delivery.

Ekofisk Project Execution

Steve Marshal, Project Manager, CTC Marine Projects

To close out the session, Steve gave an insight into the offshore project execution, giving details of how well the installation spread worked in reality and the resulting lessons learned.