UK-headquartered Harkand has completed an inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) campaign for BP Trinidad and Tobago (BPTT) utilising the Harkand Da Vinci diving support vessel and the company’s new hyperbaric rescue facility (HRF) in the Caribbean.  

The IRM scope included deadleg inspection of BPTT offshore assets, pipeline intervention, caisson repair works, platform and pipeline clamps installation and inspection and recovery of a caisson section. Harkand provided a full suite of services including saturation and surface diving, ROV, survey, inspection as well as project management and engineering for the execution of the campaign. 

This was also the first project for the new HRF built by Harkand in the Gulf of Mexico in August 2015. The HRF was set up in Chaguaramas on the North West peninsula of Trinidad for the campaign. 

John Reed, Harkand chief executive officer, said: “Securing this contract with BP Trinidad and Tobago was a significant win in the region. The work involved an array of specialist subsea services and engineering, cementing our track record in the area.” 

Reed added: “This work followed successful campaigns by both the Houston and Aberdeen operation bases in the Caribbean during 2014 and 2015 for major global oil and gas operators. We are extremely pleased to add BPTT to our client base in the area.” 

The IMCA compliant, DNV classed Harkand Da Vinci is equipped with a 140-tonne active heave compensated crane, an 18-man twin bell saturation diving system rated to 300 metres water depth, one three-man wet bell and one two-man surface diving system. The vessel was mobilised with two remotely operated vehicles – one light work-class and one inspection-class ROV.

UK-based Global Marine Systems has completed operations and has installed approximately 380 kilometres of OCC SC500 fibre optic cable between the Japanese island of Okinawa and an existing branching unit (BU) in the Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE) system. This extension of the 7200-kilometre intra-Asia cable system, which was completed in 2012, connects Japan to the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Appointed to the contract by NTT World Engineering Marine Corp (NTT WEM), Japan, via Global Marine’s Singapore operation, cable was landed from the vessel via direct shore ends at the southern tip of Okinawa before being laid to the BU of ASE. The BU stub end was recovered and jointing operations conducted, additionally PP duct fibre optic cable protection was installed to provide added protection for system security.

“As an experienced operator in the Asia region, we are ideally placed to offer rapid response to short project deadlines,” said Global Marine installation director Andy Lloyd. “With operations completed within a small timeframe, we are demonstrating how our professional team can work together to fulfil client needs, no matter how demanding.”

Masashi Nakagawa, senior project manager at NTT WEM, added: “We are very pleased to work with the Global Marine team and utilise a high performance installation vessel like the Cable Innovator for this important project.”