Introduction to Subsea Positioning Course

25 October Aberdeen, UK

 

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Overview

This was an intensive one-day course specifically designed for all offshore and subsea engineering and support staff who deal with the development and operation of subsea fields. It also offered the chance for anyone new, or already within the subsea sector, the opportunity to participate in a short course to raise their awareness of subsea positioning data transmission and their applications.

The seminar is run by experienced personnel from the subsea industry. It is held in a classroom environment, with the sessions being interactive, with every opportunity to ask questions and discuss the material presented. It has the added benefit of accompanying exhibits of vendors equipment and services.

Subsea positioning plays a critical role at every stage of a subsea field development, however an understanding of the available positioning systems, their applications and achievable accuracies, can be crucial to the successful outcome of a project and maintaining project budgets and schedules.

This course is aimed at creating an awareness of the applications of subsea positioning, the vulnerabilities to which they are susceptible, and the requirements to correctly install, calibrate and operate the positioning systems. Participants should complete the course with an understanding of underwater positioning and data transmission, the knowledge to ask informed questions of vendors, and provide practical specifications in tender documents.

 

A Night at the Movies

18 October 2012 London Evening Meeting

Chairman: Alex Hunt, BG Group (UK)

 

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Overview

A number of milestone deepwater and subsea projects have started production in the last twelve months and more are currently under development. Many oil & gas companies are now producing videos and animations to publicise their achievements and technological breakthroughs. Come and spend an evening watching some of the most recent ones.

This will be a whistle-stop world tour, with stops including the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, West Africa and North West Europe. See what companies such as ENI, Petrobras, Shell, Statoil and Total have done and are planning. Watch new industry records being set, including the world’s deepest moored production system, longest subsea tie-back,

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A Night at the Movies

 

What can the SUT do for you?

16 October 2012 Learning Luncheon, London, UK

Chairman Brian Jones, London Offshore Consultants

 

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Presentations

Subsea Engineering and Operations

Iain Knight, JP Kenny

Deepwater oil and gas production is becoming increasingly important to supplying the world’s energy needs, whilst facing still technical and environmental challenges.

 

Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics

Andy Barwise, Gardline

Most offshore activities demand a detailed knowledge of the seabed and near surface behavior and characteristics.

 

Diving and Manned Submersibles

Dr. John Bevan, Submex

Manned underwater intervention remains of utmost importance despite the proliferation of the remotely operated vehicle.

 

Marine Renewable Energies

John Griffiths

Arguably our richest sources of renewable energy lie in the ocean environment.

 

Macondo – Lessons and implications for the North Sea

10 October 2012 Aberdeen Evening meeting

Chairman Neil Gordon, Chairman, Subsea UK

 

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Overview

The Macondo Deep Water Horizon tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico provided a salutary reminder of the dangers involved in deep water drilling, and the far reaching implication for personnel, the environment and future operations which result from such incidents. While the ramifications of Macondo, and the legal battle will continue to run, the industry has been quick to react and learn the lessons for its future operations. This event will look at the legal lesson and implications, as well as one of the practical responses, the OSPRAG Capping device.

 

Presentations

Contractual Lessons from Deepwater Horizon 1
Contractual Lessons from Deepwater Horizon 2

Uisdean Vass and Euan Palmer, Partners, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP

1. Overview of events to date re. Deepwater Horizon and the related litigations;
2. A look at the arguments of BP and Transocean in their proceedings;
3. A look at the arguments of BP and Halliburton in their proceedings;
4. Analysis;
5. Lesson ‐ (a) negligence in offshore operations (b) willful misconduct in offshore operations; (c) public policy; (d) knock for knock regimes; (e) damages: (f) risk allocation.

 

The OSPRAG Capping Device

Brian Kinkead, Consultant and lead on OSPRAG, Technical Review Group

The OSPRAG Capping Device was an industry fast‐track project designed to provide a contingency capability to cap a UKCS subsea oil well. The presentation will focus on the technical, operational and organisational challenges of delivering such a project and address some of the issues that operators are required to have considered prior to commencing operations.

 

The Case for One Atmosphere Diving

29 November 2012 London Evening Meeting

Dr Phil Nuytten, Inventor, entrepreneur, explorer, President and founder of Nuytco Research Ltd and Can–Dive Services Ltd

 

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Overview

Phil Nuytten has spent over forty years developing undersea systems that have the safety of the diving technician as their common theme. His goal has been to provide scientific, technical, military, and sport divers full access to continental shelf depths without the hazards of decompression, so that humans can explore, learn about, and – ultimately – protect the world’s oceans. Through his companies, Nuytco and Can–Dive, Nuytten has developed the technology to allow longer–length diving expeditions with increased safety. Nuytten’s one–atmosphere systems – the hard–suits ‘Newtsuit’ and ‘Exosuit’, and his deep–diving “DeepWorker” submersibles – are renowned internationally. This deep diving equipment, along with Nuytten’s military submarine rescue system (designated ‘Remora’ by the Royal Australian Navy and ‘PRMS’ by the US Navy), is standard in nearly a dozen of the world’s navies. Contract work has taken him to oilfields, submarine construction sites and sunken wrecks around the world, including the Breadalbane, the northern–most known shipwreck, where his record dives through icy Arctic waters earned him a place on the cover of National Geographic Magazine in 1984. Nuytten was one of the forces behind the ‘Sustainable Seas Expeditions’ in the 1990’s, a five–year initiative by the National Geographic Society and NOAA to study deep ocean environmental impact. During this project, DeepWorker microsubs were used to explore and monitor National marine sanctuaries. The findings from this expedition have contributed significantly to scientists’ understanding of underwater ecology, habitats, and biodiversity.

Nuytten and his team are currently training astronauts from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency to pilot the DeepWorker Submersibles for the NASA Extreme Environment Operations (NEEMO) project, a multi–year research project. NEEMO presents an opportunity to advance the long–term objective of human exploration of near–earth asteroids by combining research on life in extreme environments with high fidelity training in an underwater, remote field setting. The information gained from this analogue project will help to improve the knowledge base, tools and techniques for future human space exploration.

Presentation

During the evening Dr Nuytten was presented, by Dr John Bevan (Chairman of the SUT’s Diving and Unmanned Submersibles Committee), with a certificate for the Award of the Houlder Cup for Outstanding Contributions to Underwater Operations 2009.

 

Renewables (Installations)

28 November 2012 Aberdeen Evening Meeting

Chairman: David Kaye, Aquamarine Power

 

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Overview

The construction of offshore wind farms provides steadily increasing work for the subsea construction industry. Business prospects are positive as the industry looks towards the UK Round 3 offshore wind developments. This meeting will look at various aspects of installation of offshore wind turbines and associated infrastructure, including wind turbine installation methods, new developments in cable and foundation installation, and closing with a project overview from the perspective of an offshore wind developer

Presentations

Installation of Cables and Foundations

Paul Davidson and Clive Adshead, SMD

Overview of Wind Turbine Generator Installation Methods Glen Mitchell, Wood Group Kenny 4271 Providing adequate production for interconnecting and export cable on offshore wind, tidal or wave installations is a vital component to ensure reliability of supply for the life of the installation. The presentation will provide an in–depth review of the latest generations of cable trenching systems designed specifically for the renewables market and real–world performance of these machines in the field. SMD will also expand on its latest JV with BORD engineering, allowing offshore renewable installations to consider subsea piling as an economical and safe fixation method for offshore renewables devices.

Overview to Offshore Wind Farm Developments

Nick Rey, Wood Group Kenny

The turbines in existing UK Round 1 and Round 2 offshore wind farms have principally been installed using technologies and methodologies developed from onshore experience. However, to meet the increasing logistical demands associated with the planned UK Round 3 and Scottish Territorial Waters Sites, wind turbine installation methodologies are being further developed and optimised. The presentation will provide an overview to the principal methods of wind turbine installation undertaken offshore and highlight the opportunities for time and cost reduction during installation operations.

An Overview of the Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm Development

Richard Copeland, Repsol Nuevas Energías UK

The proposed Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm is a 1GW development in Scottish Territorial Waters located off the Angus Coast being developed by a joint venture between Repsol Nuevas Energías UK (51%) and EDPR UK (49%). The presentation will give an overview of the project development process for a real offshore wind farm project including the site characteristics, consenting, conceptual design and all of the issues that an offshore wind developer is presented with.