FMDS Supports Offshore Installation in Liverpool Bay

Fendercare Marine Diving Services (FMDS) has been contracted to provide significant diving services and equipment for an offshore installation in Liverpool Bay, UK.

The Liverpool Bay Development comprises four oil and gas fields, together with significant offshore and onshore facilities used for extracting, transporting and processing these reserves.

Fendercare Marine Diving Services mobilised the DPII Diving Support Vessel “Seabed Worker”, complete with a full air diving & nitrox surface demand diving spread, two work class ROV’s, a complete pipeline hydrographic survey facility and the James Fisher Hydro-Digger (mass flow excavator) for survey and remedial works to the assets located offshore in Liverpool Bay.  The work scopes included the hydrographic surveys and mooring integrity surveys.

Offshore operations at Liverpool Bay are focussed on the Douglas complex – a facility that monitors and controls the development’s three unmanned satellite platforms at Lennox, Hamilton and Hamilton North, with oil and gas from all four fields being received at Douglas.  The Lennox and Douglas fields produce oil which is sent through a pipeline, to the offshore storage installation before being loaded into tankers for export worldwide.  Hamilton, Hamilton North and Lennox produce the gas which is part-processed on Douglas before it is sent via pipeline to the Point of Ayr gas terminal on the N.Wales coast.

As part of the work conducted by Fendercare Marine Diving Services, pipelines routes were surveyed and a full condition report submitted on completion.  The survey team also identified the locations of the three joining links attaching the mooring chains to the anchor wires on three mooring between the CALRAM and its anchor buried in three meters of seabed.  These links were excavated by the James Fisher hydro-digger, raised by ROV and NDT inspected.

Pre-selected areas of nine mooring chains were also cleaned and inspected between the surface and seabed by ROV’s and divers, remedial works and maintenance procedures were also completed on the Pipe Line End Manifold (PLEM) and the main safety chain in preparation for change out later in the year.

All diving and marine operations were carried out in compliance with the Offshore Approved Codes of Practice (ACOP) as defined within the HSE Diving at Work Regulations 1997 and IMCA recommendations.

This is not the first time that Fendercare Marine Diving Services has provided support to the Liverpool Bay Development. They have also been contracted to provide the diving facility together with associated operational procedures and risk assessments for the change out of the 24 tons of safety mooring chain with a Salentic line. For this operation Fendercare Marine Diving Services were asked to operate utilising their platform based air diving spread deployed to the offshore installation.

The work scopes included procedures for the cleaning and inspection of the main securing pad eye attached to the buoy, located in the splash zone 2m below the surface. The pad eye attachment welds and first three chain links were cleaned to enable inspection divers, utilising  underwater magnetic particle inspection (MPI) equipment, to inspect the pad eye attachment welds and links. On confirmation of the pad eye integrity and fitness for purpose, the chain was rigged for removal and secured at both ends prior to being cut free from under the buoy and recovered, and a replacement Salentic line was rigged and installed.

Fendercare Marine Diving Services Director, Bob MacMillan commented: “We are very proud of our involvement with the Liverpool Bay Development and our work demonstrates the wide range of services and equipment we can offer our customers. All of our diving teams are trained and experienced in a wide range of techniques and procedures and safety is paramount in everything we do.“