Okeanus Winch & LARS for JOGMEC Seabed Mining Ops

Okeanus has received a purchase order from NiGK Corporation (NiGK) in Japan for the development, manufacture, and delivery of an active heave compensated umbilical winch and skid mounted A-frame style LARS.

The 10 ton winch and LARS will be used from ships of opportunity to deploy a tethered seafloor drill that will obtain core samples of cobalt crust deposits.

NiGK will manufacture the drill, provide the umbilical, and topside control vans.

The complete system is scheduled to be delivered to the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) early in 2020.

“We have worked with NiGK for a number of years, we are very happy that NiGK was the successful bidder on the JOGMEC and are thankful to be working again with such a honorable customer,” Ted Brockett said. “The system we’re developing addresses the need for cost effective means to acquire seafloor core samples of hard mineral deposits from ships of opportunity.”

The Okeanus LARS will incorporate features such as telescoping A-frame legs and a docking head assembly incorporating a failsafe latch, rotate function, over-boarding sheave, and motion damping feature that will allow for safe and efficient shipboard deployment and retrieval operations even in relatively high sea states. The Okeanus umbilical winch will be provided with grooved drum covers by LeBus and an Active Heave Compensation (AHC) control system by Scantrol.