Osbit equips Helix vessel with well intervention equipment

August 2, 2016

UK-based offshore engineering company Osbit has completed and loaded out £3 million ($4M) worth of well intervention equipment to Helix Energy Solutions, for installation in Schiedam on Helix’s chartered Siem Helix 1 vessel.

Osbit said on Monday that the delivery was a part of a series of projects awarded to the company last year, to supply around £11m ($14.5M) worth of equipment for the Siem Helix 1, Siem Helix 2 and Q7000 vessels.

The equipment, weighing over 300t in total, consists of a BOP Maintenance and Storage Tower, Intervention Tension Frame (ITF) and Moveable deck. The three systems will be installed on to Siem Helix 1 this week, ahead of the vessel being deployed in Brazil on a long-term well intervention services charter for Petrobras.

Osbit said that the second suite of identical systems will follow later in the year for the Siem Helix 2 vessel.

The maintenance tower will be used to assemble and maintain subsea equipment, incorporating a 125-tonne capacity lifting system to enable progressive assembly of stack modules.

The intervention tension frames (ITF) provides an environment for conducting coiled tubing and wireline operations. The ITF has three platform levels for personnel to conduct operations using dedicated skidding systems.

Access to the ITF is possible via telescopic gangway, also designed and built by Osbit. The gangway links the ITF to the maintenance tower and removes the need for engineers to use rope access methods to operate the well intervention systems mounted within the ITF.

The moveable deck, which will be installed adjacently to the Maintenance Tower, is a specialized mezzanine deck to provide additional support and work area over the vessel’s moon pool.

Paul Shotton, Helix’s Special Projects Manage, said: “We have worked with Osbit on multiple projects, and they continue to impress us with their diligence and flexibility.”

Tony Trapp, Executive Chairman of Osbit, said: “The design and build of these complex systems demonstrate Helix’s confidence in us to deliver safe, innovative, integrated equipment packages to meet their strict schedules and budgets.”