Offshore staff
ACCRINGTON, UK – Webtool has introduced a gripping and lifting tool for recovering subsea umbilical and cable for offshore oil and gas development and decommissioning projects.
The CRT200 Cable Retrieval Tool, developed in consultation with DNV GL, is said to facilitate safe and controlled recovery of damaged cables and umbilicals of up to 8-in. diameter.
Current methods for recovering umbilicals for repair or replacement are laborious, time consuming and expensive, the company claims.
They typically involve trenching the seabed around the cable or umbilical to allow a double choke sling to be attached using an ROV. The hydraulically-operated Webtool CRT200 gripper is said to provide a quicker and safer method of retrieval and improved handling.
The CRT200 cable gripper, guided by an ROV, is lowered onto the end of the cable without the need for preparatory clearing of the soil around the cable. Its mechanically locked gripping action is said to ensure that the umbilical does not escape during retrieval, while an internal clutch mechanism prevents damage from overtightening.
By gripping the end of the cable, subsequent handling is said to be much easier, enabling the cable to be recovered to a reeler or spooler on the surface vessel.
The cable gripper, fabricated from corrosion-resistant materials, weighs around 500 kg and has a lifting capacity of 20 metric tons (18 tons). It can be deployed at any water depth, with associated hydraulic hotstab or torque bucket interface options.
02/27/2017
