SSUK News Autumn - Subsea UK

SUBSEA UK NEWS
THE NEWSLETTER FROM SUBSEA UK www.subseauk.co.uk Autumn 2005
CALL AT OE 05
FOR UK SUBSEA
ALLIANCE
THE
UK’s Energy Minister Malcolm
Wicks made a special visit to the Subsea
UK stand at Offshore Europe for a
presentation profiling the subsea sector and
the significant future prospects for UK
companies. The visit was
a high point of a week
which saw many member
companies use the
hospitality area provided
by Subsea UK and
culminated in a Subsea
Day which welcomed
visitors and presenters
from around the world.
Key, global technical
challenges facing the
subsea sector are, in
general, very similar and
this was brought home very strongly at the
Subsea Day. Global opportunities were
presented by Petrobras, BP for both Gulf of
Mexico and West Africa and Woodside which
demonstrated that subsea is a real growth area
for the future, in fact it is the future of the
offshore oil and gas industry. These
“There is a need to
work more effectively
with operators,
contractors, academia
and government
bodies establishing
effective alliances”
presentations were complemented by Sean
Hanrahan of Chevron, who gave a fascinating
overview of the US’s Deepstar programme.
All of the international presenters spoke of
partnership between academia, research
organisations and oil
and gas operators. Chris
Lawlor of Australian
operator Woodside told
delegates about the
success achieved by
the Western Energy
Research Alliance – an
alliance which has several
projects underway and is
looking to develop new
technologies to meet the
challenges facing the
subsea sector.
Subsea UK has been calling for such an
alliance in the UK. There is a need to work
more effectively with operators, contractors,
academia and government bodies establishing
effective alliances that will enable British
companies to develop and commercialise
tomorrow’s technology today.
> ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT: DAVID PRIDDEN AND
ENERGY MINISTER MALCOLM WICKS WITH
CHAIRMAN BILL EDGAR AT OFFSHORE EUROPE 05
Forthcoming Events
Business Breakfast
The Marcliffe, Pitfodels, Aberdeen
23rd November 2005
Keynote Speaker: Bob Blizzard, MP
Subtech 2005
London – 15th December 2005
A London-based event organised
jointly by Subsea UK and the SUT,
focusing on UK-developed subsea
technology.
Subsea O6
Aberdeen – 2nd February 2006
Subsea Tieback Forum
Galveston – 28th February until
2nd March 2006
All Energy Show
Aberdeen - 24th,25th May 2006
OTC
Houston – May 2006
> INSIDE: > SUBSEA UK NEWS > MARKET STUDY
> MEMBERS’ NEWS

Comment
CONTENTS
COMMENT. . . . . . . . 2–3
MARKET STUDY . . . . 4–5
MEMBERS’ NEWS . . 6–8
Subsea UK Members:
Acteon (UWG), Aker Kvaerner, All Oceans
Engineering Limited, Andrew Palmer &
Associates, Ashtead Technology Ltd, Bel
Valves, BG Group, Bibby Offshore Ltd,
Boreas Consultants Ltd, Bowtech Products
Ltd, BP, BSW "Ballgrab" Limited, Buchan
Technical Services Ltd, Caley Ocean
Systems Ltd, CAPCIS, Castrol Offshore,
Century Dynamics Ltd, Century Subsea
Ltd, Champion Environmental Technologies,
ChevronTexaco Upstream Europe, Circle
Technical Services Ltd, Coda Octopus Ltd,
Cranfield University, CRP Group Ltd, CSL,
CTC Marine Projects, Cutting Underwater
Technologies Limited, DES Operations,
Dunlaw Engineering Ltd, Durham Business
School, Dynamic Positioning Services
(DPS), East of England Energy Group,
Energy Industries Council, eProduction
Solutions, ExxonMobil, Furmanite
International Ltd, Gunn Engineering
Services (Abderdeen) Ltd, Hayward Tyler
Engineered Products, Hedley Purvis Ltd -
Pivicat SAS, Hydrasun, Hydratight Sweeney
Ltd, Hydrocable Systems Ltd, Imes
Systems, Insensys, Inspectahire Inst. Co.
Ltd, Institute for Energy and Environment,
Strathclyde University, INTEC Engineering
(UK) Limited, Isleburn Mackay & Macleod,
J & S Marine Ltd (Offshore), J P Kenny
Engineering Limited, KD Marine Ltd,
Kinetics Controls & Innovation Ltd,
Kongsberg Maritime Limited, Litre Meter
Ltd, Master Flo Valve Co (UK) Limited,
MCS, Met Office Marine Programme,
National Hyperbaric Centre, National
Oceanography Centre, Nautronix Ltd,
NETmc Marine, Norson Services Ltd,
Ocean Design Europe Ltd, Oceaneering
Intervention Engineering, Oceanlab
(University of Aberdeen), OceanTools Ltd,
ODS-Petrodata Ltd, OIL Engineering
Limited, Pan-Ocean Engineering Ltd,
Pegasus International, Perry Slingsby
Systems Ltd, Piezo Composite Transducers
Ltd, Prosafe Offshore, Prospect Flow
Solutions, Quest Offshore Resources Inc,
Reson Offshore Ltd, Robert Gordon's
University, Rockwool Firesafe Insulation,
Ross Deeptech Initiatives Ltd, Rotech
Subsea Limited, RUCO Ltd, Scan Tech UK,
Score (Europe) Ltd, Seaeye Marine Ltd,
Seal-Tite UK LLC, Seatronics, Shell, SMD
Hydrovision, Solstad Offshore (UK) Ltd,
Sonardyne International Ltd, Sonavision
Ltd, Son-ix Technologies Ltd, S.U.T, Stolt
Offshore, Sub-Atlantic Ltd, Subsea 7,
Talisman Energy (UK) Limited, Technip
Offshore UK Ltd, The Engineering Business
Ltd, Total E & P Europe, Tritech
International Ltd, Tronic, TSS (International)
Ltd, University of Aberdeen. Wellstream
International Limited, Ythan Environmental
Services Limited
Tel: +44 (0) 1224 355355
Fax: +44 (0) 1224 707776
E-mail: info@subseauk.org
www.subseauk.co.uk
WITH six successful events under
our belt and four major ones to
come in the next few months, a
market study, a survey into testing facilities
and meetings with key stakeholders, the
Subsea UK office is becoming a busy place.
In the daily juggling of PR, event
management, lobbying, research and
generally ensuring that we are meeting
members’ needs I recognise that it is
becoming increasingly important to stay
focussed and that, as the organisation
matures, we must continue to pursue the
basic approach on our original key
themes - those of profile, networking,
export opportunities and technology
commercialisation.
Building a profile is critical to Subsea UK.
We must continue to raise the profile of the
sector so that it gets the support and
recognition it needs to grow, attract the right
skills and receives the correct level of
investment in technology. This benefits all
our members from the major operators to
the very small niche firms. We are raising the
bar in terms of our profile not only through
some positive and hard-hitting national,
local and trade media coverage but also
through our contacts with decision makers
in government and the industry.
Right now, we need the highest possible
profile on the world stage. Major deepwater
prospects together with a growing number
of subsea tiebacks in mature or under
developed provinces are driving forward a
potentially explosive growth period for the
global subsea market – predictions by Infield
show the market almost quadrupling in size
from $5 to $18bn per annum during 2004 -
2008. We must grasp fully this opportunity
and demonstrate the UK’s commitment to
do everything possible to secure a major
share of the growing market.
Our recent study of the subsea test facilities
market has demonstrated that a clear gap is
looming in the testing marketplace and we have
the opportunity today to make a clear statement
to the global subsea community that we intend
to remain a true world-leader in this sector by
creating a world-class subsea test centre.
The study identified the need for a large
scale hyperbaric chamber capable of
simulating water depths of 4000metres or
more. If built this would be a unique facility,
targeted at servicing the growing market for
testing of ultra deepwater subsea production
equipment. UK based medium sized
manufacturers in particular believe that such
a facility would be of considerable value.
Unfortunately, further investigations by
Subsea UK have shown that building such a
facility would represent a substantial
commercial risk and be difficult to justify
without an initial injection of public funding.
However we believe that there is an argument
for establishing a centre that provides a
solution to not only testing but other issues
which face the industry at this time such as
further product development, and
technology commercialisation, training and
attracting younger people into the industry.
Subsea UK wants to see a subsea Centre of
Excellence established in the UK which
addresses all of these issues and, like other
offshore oil and gas centres around the
world, draws together existing public and
private bodies to deliver a range of services
to the domestic as well as international
subsea community.
This is a necessary requirement if UK plc is
to maintain its lead in the development of
subsea technology and further increase our
international activity and level of exports.
We hope that Subsea UK members will
support us in calling for such a centre.
Finally, and possibly most important of all
our initiatives, is skills. Without an
underpinning and growing UK technology
skills base, we will be incapable of
competing internationally in the longer
term. The very real skills shortages in our
sector are compounded by an alarming
decrease in the number of young people
choosing to study science and engineering
subjects. To arrest this decline, we have to
target young people and show them that
there are exciting opportunities in our
business sector.
Subsea UK with the support and generosity
of Shell Expro, Cooper Cameron,
Oceaneering, Subsea 7, Petro-Canada and
Acteon and in association with the National
Marine Aquarium in Plymouth is seeking to
do just that. Later this month, we will be
taking a subsea Xmas tree and other
equipment from Aberdeen to Plymouth to
be part of a “first-of-its-kind” exhibit outside
of the aquarium, showing actual examples of
subsea technology which will seek to engage
young people. This is a long-term solution
to the skills issue but if we do not start
encouraging young people into our industry
now, we are significantly handicapping
ourselves for future growth.
The aquarium exhibit combined with an
enhanced profile of an exciting sector will,
in the long run, help us attract people into
the sector but we will also be looking at
other initiatives such as working more
effectively with the SUT, building on our
network of young people in the sector and
looking at projects in schools.
In conclusion, Subsea UK must at all times
serve its member’s needs but it will require
us all to continue to take a focused approach
and I firmly believe that focus should be on
the above initiatives. As always, I welcome
feedback from members on these priorities
and ideas for their delivery.
David Pridden
CEO, Subsea UK
2 Subsea UK News Autumn 05

Comment
FEEDBACK
FROM PARIS
SHOW: C’EST
TRES BIEN!
exhibitors and visitors alike. New relationships have clearly
been forged, and it is important for the industry to build on
this success to enhance further its international standing and
competitiveness.
“The diverse range of participants at the event gave us an
invaluable insight into the challenges and opportunities we are
facing in the modern, global industry.
“The opportunities are huge – for example, a typical subsea
tieback in the North Sea would be costed in the tens of
millions of pounds; the sort of subsea infrastructure and
construction needed in the West of Africa fields typically cost
in excess of £500 million.
“It also became increasingly clear at the event that innovation
– a trademark of the British subsea sector – is going to
become more and more important in terms of keeping a
check on field development costs. Subsea costs are starting
to shape and inform overall project expenditure, and effective,
cost-efficient solutions that keep total costs down are going to
lead the way and win the business.”
Speakers at the event included BP subsea team leader John
Gooder, Saibos vice president for engineering Giovanni Chiesa,
Total head of subsea production systems Alain Cretenet,
Over 40 companies took part in Subsea Solutions, a one-day
exhibition and seminar to highlight their skills and expertise to
a key audience of operators and contractors in Paris.
The exhibition, at the Espace Grande Arche, La Défense, was
staged to spotlight what the UK subsea industry can offer in
oil and gas provinces around the world as well as in other key
sectors.
Attendance at the June 28 event was well up on last year’s
exhibition, in terms of both participating companies and
visitors; the number of delegates attending the event was
almost double the previous year’s event. There was also a
series of presentations and panel sessions involving senior
industry personnel.
Paris has a high concentration of key operators and
contractors working in West Africa, while France has an
established reputation as a centre of global activity in the
subsea oil and gas and wider oceanology and
telecommunication sectors.
David Pridden said: “The day proved markedly successful, in
terms of both setting out the industry’s capabilities in a very
important arena, and providing companies with an insight into
how they can respond to new opportunities as they arise in
key provinces.”
Patrick O’Brien, managing director of engineering consultancy
MCS, added: “There has been a very positive response from
Technip business development vice president Emmanuel
Fontan, Stolt technical director for Africa Mediterranean
Philippe Hoffmann, and BP Plutonio URF project manager
Duncan Brown.
Five companies – Subsea 7, IMES Group, Nautronix, 2H
Offshore and Century Subsea – made presentations on
current technological developments in the UK.
In addition, Subsea UK invited a group of French engineering
students to the exhibition to get first-hand accounts of the
career opportunities presented by the sector, reflecting its
strategic moves to address the industry’s skills shortages. BP
had two of its young engineers give a brief presentation on the
exciting prospects for the subsea industry in developing
deepwater fields in offshore locations around the world, and
Bob Curtis, Oceaneering, gave the audience a visual insight
into the complexity of subsea equipment through the
demonstration of Oceaneering’s underwater simulation tool in
a presentation.
Autumn 05 Subsea UK News 3

Market Study
MARKET STUDY
AIMS TO
PROFILE SECTOR
> ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT: DAVID PRIDDEN AND CHAIRMAN BILL EDGAR WITH ENERGY
MINISTER MALCOLM WICKS AT OFFSHORE EUROPE 05
THE market study which Subsea UK commissioned Arthur D Little to undertake earlier this
year has been completed and the results confirm the significance and importance of UK’s
oil and gas subsea sector. The facts and figures from the survey will be used to promote the
sector to the industry, government and the wider community.
ADL estimated that based on, typically, the last financial year of many companies, the UK’s oil
and gas subsea sector market size was $4.64bn of which just over half was exported. Some 766
companies were contacted and the data obtained compared in many cases to published company
reports. In addition to financial data, ADL estimated that 24,000 to 27,000 people were directly
employed in the industry. This did not include those working for the operators.
“This is the most comprehensive review of the UK’s subsea sector ever taken,” says Pridden. “At a
time when the manufacturing base in this country is at an all-time low, it is important to stress
one of our manufacturing and technology success stories,” says David Pridden. “This study
ensures that we have accurate facts and figures at our fingertips to demonstrate the importance of
this sector to industry, government and the public at large.
“The results highlight the global role of the UK in the subsea industry. For the financial year
reviewed, Infield predict a global subsea market, including the cost of drilling, to be in the order
of $6 to $8 billion. The ADL review, which excludes drilling costs, illustrates that the UK has the
major share of the global industry. This is particularly significant when the predicted global
market is set to rise to nearly $18 billion in 2008. We must not get complacent - UK based
businesses have to win the lion’s share of this
future business. Subsea UK must help
members do this by communicating the
breadth and depth of the sector to local,
national and international governments,
building a stronger profile both nationally
and internationally, supporting the business
development of individual companies and
attracting young people and fresh talent into
the sector.”
“With limited global oil and gas supplies,
renewables being much further away than
many want to admit and the likely issues over
nuclear power, it is vital that we squeeze every
last drop of oil out of the reserves around the
world. In the North Sea, this will be
increasingly achieved through subsea
completions - almost 40% of UKCS oil
production now comes from subsea wells.
Global production from subsea wells is also
set to grow rapidly and the requirement for
subsea technology and services in the marine
renewable sector will dramatically increase
over the next 10 years as well.
“The subsea sector is therefore of paramount
importance to the UK and fortunately it is
one in which we excel.”
While there is the potential for the UK to
continue to lead the way in subsea
technology and services, there is a real
vulnerability in terms of international
competition, research and development
capability and the fact that too few UK
companies attain global scale.
“The risk is that the UK may fail to exploit
the next wave of emerging subsea technologies
and services. Subsea UK was set up to
champion, harness and publicise the expertise
and experience in the UK but we need key
stakeholders such as the government, the
academic and financial sectors to understand
the industry and support it fully, if it is to
grow at the same rate as demand for its
services and technology,” says Pridden. “This
credible and detailed study of the sector
highlighting its importance, contribution and
potential will help us lobby those stakeholders
so that we can work together to capitalise on
our current, but little publicised,
advantageous position.”
Arthur D Little have drawn on their existing
and publicly available databases and a direct
survey of all companies involved in the sector.
The results give an accountable view of their
revenues, exports and areas of involvement
which will provide a framework for future
initiatives.
4 Subsea UK News Autumn 05

Market Study
Members’ News
DO WE NEED A
NATIONAL SUBSEA
TEST CENTRE?
The results of Subsea UK’s study to find
out if there was a need for a national
subsea test centre have caused a bit of a stir
in certain quarters.
With support from Scottish Enterprise
and ONE NorthEast, Subsea UK
commissioned consultants OTM,
Douglas-Westwood Associates and J.P.
Kenny to survey the sector to determine
the requirement for a National Subsea Test
Centre that would help bring new
technology to market more effectively and
reaffirm the position of the UK as the
world’s leading provider of subsea
technology based products and services.
“The study identified that the majority of
subsea testing is performed in the oil and
gas sector, with the remainder in defence,
oceanology and marine renewables sectors”
observes Chris Dudgeon of OTM. “
Although the survey revealed that by and
large today’s market requirements for
testing were being met, there is a
developing gap in the current capability in
the oil and gas marketplace for a large
scale, high pressure hyperbaric chamber
with the capability to test at water depths
of at least 4,000 metres.”
“With moves into increasingly deeper
water, the existing facilities both in the UK
and around the world will be inadequate
and will hinder the progress of new
technology.”
The findings revealed the fragmented
nature of testing across the industry, with
companies using services from a large
number of small facilities. Although
current testing needs are being met
sometimes this is not as effectively or
timely as they could and there is niche
group of UK based companies that require
additional, specific testing facilities. Subsea
UK has taken the results of this market
survey and consulted with a number of
public and private bodies over the course
of the last couple of months.
Following this, Pridden adds: “I would
emphasise that the survey was to look at
the market requirement, not the
specification or location of any facility.
The report has been published and we will
now be examining the findings in more
detail so that we can make progress on the
creation of a demand-led centre aimed at
ensuring the UK maintains its leading
position for subsea technology
development and manufacturing.”
“Subsea UK believes that a stand-alone
large diameter hyperbaric subsea test
centre would be too costly to develop.
However, if properly planned to meet the
various needs of our industry at this time,
a centre could be developed
accommodating training facilities, a pool
of engineering and operational expertise
and a showcase for new technology as well
as test facilities. It must be independent
and easily accessible to the entire UK
subsea community.”
There are over 140 facilities worldwide
that perform some sort of role in subsea
testing and companies in the UK are
currently using over one hundred of these.
To immediately address this fragmentation
Subsea UK is developing a central database
to provide details of existing facilities,
capabilities and contact details and any
members with ideas and information for
this are asked to contact Trish Burrell at
Subsea UK.
“A resource which holds all the
information on UK and global subsea
testing will be of real benefit to our
members, saving them time and enhancing
scheduling of testing to meet critical
project timelines.”
The other key findings of the survey
showed that :
> Currently many of the best
equipped test facilities worldwide
are operating at capacity which is
causing delays and adding costs
for companies developing new
technology and qualifying existing
products
> The current testing capability
means that some companies are
“making do” which may result in
lower specification tests
> Many existing facilities are
“inherited” and there is limited
interest in updating or replacing
them
> A large number of companies
consulted stressed the need for
the UK “to do something”
to indicate the country’s
commitment to the subsea
industry - Norway and Brazil were
considered to have shown their
commitment with consequent
benefits to their respective
subsea sector
GROWTH AT
ACTEON
> ACTEON’S various specialist
engineering companies are
experiencing steady growth with an
increased demand for their
services.
WellCut Decommissioning Services
recently began the second phase of
a programme of suspended
subsea well abandonments for
ConocoPhillips, which included the
first time use of water-jet abrasives
to recover subsea wellheads in the
UK sector.
UWG has secured a contract for
the design and fabrication of a
template for the Banzala B project,
for ChevronTexaco. The company is
also to supply centralisers for the
Azerbaijan International Operating
Company (AIOC) Shah Deniz project
in the Caspian Sea.
2H Offshore Engineering is
expanding globally. The company
has been awarded a contract by BP
to provide integrity services for all of
the oil company’s deepwater risers
and flowlines in the Gulf of Mexico.
The work, which is valued at roughly
$3 million over two years, will be
supported by corrosion and
materials specialist iicorr.
HYDRO BOND
WINS TECHNIP
CONTRACT
> ABERDEEN based subsea
connection specialists, Hydro Bond
Engineering, have been awarded a
significant contract by Flexi France
of the Technip Group at LeTrait in
France.
The contract will cover the provision
of terminations for use on heat
tracing cables within Technip’s
integrated Production Bundles.
These are to be deployed in the
Dalia field off Angola for Technip’s
end customer Total.
“We are delighted to have secured
this business, which is the first
significant reward of our strategy to
obtain work in France.” said Douglas
Whyte, group managing director. “It
is a testimony to both our product
excellence and the high levels of
engineering expertise we can offer.
We continue to see France as a key
market for the group in both the oil
& gas and defence sectors.”
The contract will be fulfilled over the
next year with Hydro Bond
personnel travelling to LeTrait in
France to perform the terminations.
Autumn 05 Subsea UK News 5

Members’ News
STOLT HELPS
EMPLOYEES REACH
THEIR POTENTIAL
STOLT OFFSHORE recently organised an innovative event to
promote learning and development opportunities for staff and
help them map out their career progression within the
company.
As one of the leading contractors to the oil and gas industry,
Stolt’s vision is to be the subsea provider and employer of
choice and its people lie at the heart of achieving this.
Ensuring that the company becomes a true employer of choice
is critical to delivering its vision.
Steve Harvey, organisational and development manager of
Stolt Offshore says : “Like any other large organisation in the
sector, we are facing the ever increasing challenge of
retaining and attracting people. It is no longer just about
financial packages but about creating an environment in which
people feel valued, receive the relevant training for the job, are
able to develop their skills to meet the needs of the business
and can see a path for career progression and personal
development.
“If the business is to reach its full potential, our employees
must be given the necessary management support and
learning opportunities to reach the very highest peak of their
potential.”
The aim of the event explained Stolt Offshore’s organisational
and development adviser, Garth Ledingham, was to help
employees understand how best they could develop within
their current role as well as identify potential career paths. He
said : “Employees need to know how to go about accessing
actual training and development so they can make best use of
the opportunities open to them.”
Almost 500 employees attended the events which were held
in Aberdeen and Stavanger. On registering, each employee
received a workbook which, on completion, ensured that they
got the most out of the event. The exercises in the workbook
were designed to help outline career expectations and work
out how to get there.
“Many people embark on their career without the necessary
self-awareness to make full use of their talents,“ explains
Harvey. “Setting career expectations whether it is simply to do
the best in their current role or become the next CEO is the
first step in finding out how to fulfil their potential.”
On arriving at the event, staff embarked on a learning journey,
beginning in Zone 1 where they were encouraged to identify
their aspirations, their strengths and development challenges
and work out what would be realistic for them and how the
company could help them meet their goals.
Armed with this information, they moved into Zone 2 where
the various departments within Stolt were showcased. This
helped employees to understand the career opportunities
within each area and identify the necessary skills required
from finance and administration to engineering and offshore
operations.
In Zone 3 a range of external training providers and learning
bodies exhibited, highlighting the courses open to Stolt
employees.
Finally, in Zone 4 employees could reflect on what they had
learnt and, using their workbook, translate the information
gathered in to learning goals with the help of coaches or
career counselors. With this support, employees were able to
discover how their learning goals could be achieved and
addressed while maintaining a healthy work life balance.
Both management and staff found the events worthwhile.
Matthew Kirk, subsea construction engineering manager felt
that it gave employees a chance for some considerable “metime”.
“It is not often that staff are able to spend a
concentrated couple of hours focusing on themselves, what
they want from their jobs and how they could develop. People
are not always pro-active in asking what else they can do in
their role or where else they can go. These events were a
novel way of giving staff the guidance to do this whilst allowing
the various departments in the organisation to promote
themselves and explain what they do and how they operate. I
am convinced this has been extremely helpful in better
communicating our organsation to all our employees. Just
being there and listening to people was a fantastic opportunity
for management.”
And the staff share Matthew’s views. Sharmane McLelland,
junior project secretary in the projects and operations
department said “I found the event useful, helpful and
informative. It was great to get information on the courses
available to us. I am keen to progress in my role and currently
doing an HNC in administration and information management.
I feel more confident as a result of the event as I know what
learning support I can request and how I can progress.”
BOOST IN MEMBERSHIP
>Subsea UK now boasts 105 members, making it truly
representative of the sector. Companies are joining for
various reasons and Subsea UK is working to ensure
that it meets the needs of its members.
A couple of new members described their rationale for
joining:
Litre Meters’ Matthew Anderson says: “Litre Meter has
been increasingly asked to offer Subsea metering
solutions of the past 18 months and we joined Subsea
UK to gather more information about this growing
market for our products with the addition of access to
overseas markets such as France and the USA.”
Nicola Hodgson, Business Development Manager at
Champion Environmental Technologies says: “We made
the decision to join Subsea UK due to its extensive
membership and regular open forums. Through using
their available resources it is our hope that we can
enhance our industry penetration and draw attention to
the benefits of Aquasign.”
6 Subsea UK News Autumn 05

Members’ News
ASHTEAD TECHNOLOGY INVESTS IN SONARDYNE WIDEBAND TECHNOLOGY
LEADING offshore equipment rental
company, Ashtead Technology Rentals,
has increased its commitment to
Sonardyne’s acoustic Wideband Technology
to over $9 million dollars. Worldwide
demand for Sonardyne equipment has driven
this significant purchase and over 200
wideband enabled Compatt 5 subsea
transponders and a large inventory of Fusion
systems are now available with more being
delivered over the next 12 months.
Rob Phillips, group managing director of
Ashtead Technology commented “We are
committed to offering our customers the
most advanced and proven subsea positioning
capability. Sonardyne’s Fusion system
provides a unique capability that can be
configured for any operating environment
around the world.”
Sonardyne Wideband Technology offers long
range, centimetric subsea positioning accuracy
in a robust, flexible and scaleable system. New
updates to software offer dramatically simpler
user interfaces.
COLLABORATION OFFERS BEST TECHNICAL SOLUTION
SUB-ATLANTIC Limited and All-Oceans
Engineering Limited, both leading companies
in the ROV industry have facilitated a
substantial order from Subsea Resources Plc.
The 6000m depth rated innovative
Comanche ROV designed by Sub-Atlantic
perfectly meets Subsea Resources designated
requirements, to survey and recover salvage
from sunken ships. Sub-Atlantic has been
working closely with All-Oceans to ensure the
launch and recovery system is capable of safely
handling the 6000m umbilical. The unique
design ensures that the umbilical does not
experience undue loads during launch and/or
recovery of the ROV.
The power distribution on both the
Comanche and Mohican ROV allows the
umbilical and tether size to be minimised as
much as is technically feasible. Furthermore,
the DC thruster technology patented by Sub-
Atlantic has a demonstrable track record for
high efficiency and reliability.
The culmination of technical knowledge and
expertise of Sub Atlantic and All Oceans, both
founding members of Subsea UK, has
resulted in this high profile successful sale.
MCS GROWS DOWN UNDER
> LEADING subsea engineering consultancy, MCS, is expanding its operations with the
opening of an office in Perth, Australia. Its network of offices now includes Aberdeen,
Scotland; Galway, Ireland; Houston, Texas and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
The company which specialises in subsea riser systems believes the Perth office will play a
major role in its international growth
Director, Patrick O’Brien, has recently returned from Australia to oversee the office opening.
He says: “The timing is just perfect for us to be opening in Australia there has been a seachange
in the past couple of years with several major projects on the go and the move into
deeper water, where we have real experience and expertise, presents significant
opportunities.”
The office will be headed up by Enda O’Sullivan, currently director of MCS’ Houston office.
“From Aberdeen, we have already undertaken some work in Australia and are working with many of the key players there such as
Woodside, OMV, BP, Apache and ExxonMobil. We hope to capitalise on those relationships and further grow our client base.”
NEW WATERPROOF
ROV SURFACE
CONTROL EQUIPMENT
A NEW, completely sealed and waterproof
surface control unit for ROV operations has
been developed by Seaeye.
Rated to the international standard IP68, the
unit can withstand emersion to a depth of one
metre. The whole system can be deployed in
an exposed RIB or light launch when worked
in conjunction with a small generator.
Designed for use with their Seaeye Falcon
ROV, the unit’s special sealing arrangements
and slip-ring hinge between base and lid,
means it is fully protected against dust ingress
in any hazardous shore-based environment.
The lightweight unit is built into a rugged
case with an integral daylight readable video
display and overlay.
The Falcon’s success as a portable ROV comes
from its superior power and handling as well
as its modern distributed intelligence control
system. This provides a core vehicle that is
easier to operate and maintain in the field. An
increasing range of mission specific underslung
tooling modules can be quickly added
or removed from the core vehicle as
operations demand – making the Falcon ideal
for a wide range of tasks.specialist iicorr.
Autumn 05 Subsea UK News 7

Members News
SCHOOL VISIT TO DUCO
EARLIER this year, umbilical specialists,
DUCO in Newcastle, played host to 15
pupils from the Covenant Christian School in
Stockport. The aim of the visit was to encourage
young people to consdier a career in engineering.
Engineering manager at DUCO, John Brown gave
a presentation on the types of engineering careers on
offer and led the youngsters in some hands-on
activites which included the fatigue of a paper clip,
using 3D modelling software to manipulate a joint
repair and finding out the minimum radius benf of
a hose.
Following a buffet lunch, the pupils were taken on a tour of the factory where they were able
to see the scale of the product and equipment. They were very impressed with the hose
braiding operation which they likened to the effect obtained by dancing round a maypole!
Several of the pupils expressed an interest in engineering as a career and one or two even
volunteered to work in Angola. John Brown says : “I tried to sign them up but apparently
there is something in employment law about sending children to Angola – a proposal which
did however gain the general approval of some parents!”
NEW DSV FOR BIBBY OFFSHORE
BIBBY OFFSHORE, has entered
into a long-term agreement to
charter a new diving and
construction vessel built in Norway at the
Aker Langssten Shipyard.
The vessel named “Bibby Sapphire” is a
state of the art vessel 94 metres in length
with a 150 tonne heave compensated crane,
accommodation for 197 personnel, Class II
dynamic positioning system and fire
fighting class II rated.
During the winter Bibby Offshore will
install a twin bell 15 man diving system
with a depth capability of 300 metres. She
will be available to the market from the first
quarter of 2006. The system can be
increased to support 18 divers by increasing
the hyperbaric lifeboat capacity.
The “Bibby Aquamarine” is currently
enjoying a very busy year and the arrival of
“Bibby Sapphire” is a further step in the
strategic development of the company to
meet the growing demands of its clients in
providing safe, reliable, cost effective and
efficient project delivery.
NAUTRONIX SEES
RISE IN GLOBAL
DEMAND
THE NAUTRONIX commercial
acoustic centre of excellence has
seen a rise in global demand. As an
integral element of the NASNet®
family of products, Nautronix has
designed and launched NASNet®
MS (mini station) for use during
ongoing field activities, or as an
intermediate solution ahead of the
customer committing to standard
NASNet® stations.
NASNet® MS can be considered as
an option for short term projects, as
well as undertaking any work that
might previously have required
traditional long baseline (LBL)
equipment to achieve the necessary
coverage and still maintain a high
positioning tolerance.
Nautronix’ ADS2- based solutions
provide a very high level of signal
reliability, noise immunity, and long
ranges that are ideal features for
long range control and monitoring.
One example of this is NASBOP, a
primary control and monitoring
system, and an enabling technology
for Surface BOP drilling, which has
been proven in the harsh
environment of drilling in 3,000
metres of water, where noise is no
longer an excuse for poor acoustics.
SUBSEA DVD
NOW
AVAILABLE
THOSE of you who exhibited or
attended Subsea 05 will remember
the television cameras doing the
rounds of the stands and carrying out
interviews. The footage from the
exhibition and the conference has
now been edited and pulled together
to produce a DVD which aims to
showcase the UK subsea sector and
can be used by members,
government and industry bodies etc
to promote the sector whether at
trade shows, on trade missions or
simply with overseas customers.
To obtain your copy, contact Trish
Burrell at Subsea UK on
01224 355355
Designed & produced by Hampton Associates, Aberdeen
8 Subsea UK News Autumn 05