Aberdeen-based Cns Subsea has completed a £2 million contract to repair the subsea power cable associated with Shell's Brent C and Dunlin A platforms in the UK Northern North Sea. Preliminary project engineering and methodology studies were completed in three weeks. Cns then mobilized theMV Botnica to Teesside, northeast England, where the vessel was equipped with the company's remotely operated jetting systems, the Olympian T2, which is claimed to be operable in harsher conditions than other burial vehicles. The T2 was modified to accommodate a cable cutter/recovery tool.
After trials at Buchan Deep, north of Aberdeen, the vessel sailed out to the offshore site. Its first job was to locate the buried cable in 160 m of water and remove protective rock. Cns then employed tracking equipment to pinpoint the location of the fault. A new 500 m section of cable was spliced into place, with the cable subsequently re-laid over the pipeline crossing and re-buried.
11/24/04
