OSBIT Power, a North East subsea engineering and technology company has been awarded a multi-million pound contract by Helix Well Ops for the supply of twin, heavy weather ROV launch and recovery systems (LARS).

OSBIT, based in Riding Mill, Northumberland, has to meet challenging space constraints and a need to operate in severe weather conditions to deliver the tailored heavy weather Cursor type ROV Launch and Recovery systems to Helix Well Ops early next year.

The LARS will be installed into the Q7000, Helix’s new semi-submersible light well intervention rig being built in Singapore.

Among other design drivers, OSBIT Power’s solution has to fit within the below-deck ROV hangars onboard the Q7000 and cope with operations in up to 5m Hs conditions.

“We have worked very closely with Helix’s engineers to ensure the systems will provide reliable operation in harsh conditions while meeting the packaging constraints within the hangars,” said OP Engineer Steve Binney.

“OSBIT’s expertise in developing practical, elegant and reliable solutions within challenging constraints has been invaluable in engineering a system that meets the demanding operational requirements of Helix, within a very limited space.”

To cope with the potentially severe weather, each deployment system includes a fast- acting Active Heave Compensated umbilical winch to allow for wide weather windows when deploying and retracting the ROV and TMS from the cursor system. Mounted on guidewires, the cursor provides positive down force when deploying the ROVs through the moonpool and down through the splash zone to prevent damage to the ROV and TMS during deployment.

“This industry demands the best from its suppliers, due to the critical nature of its subsea operations. Ensuring an ROV can be safely deployed at all times is vital to success of our client’s operations” said Steve.

OSBIT Managing Director Tony Trapp, adds “OSBIT (On Specification, Budget and In Time) has grown rapidly in for four years, and our engineers have spent many decades supplying highly-complex offshore, subsea and military systems. That experience is invaluable when delivering projects such as these, and with our well established supply chain in the North East of England, we can manufacture the most high performance and reliable offshore equipment available anywhere in the world.”

“OSBIT has impressed us greatly over several projects, by their ability to innovate and rapidly translate our requirements into practical, high quality engineered solutions,” said Paul Shotton, Helix Well Ops’ Manager for Special Projects. “We looked forward to them delivering these systems in 2015.”

Press Release, August 06, 2014