Prysmian brings ‘first major contract’ to Helix Robotics’ subsea trencher

Helix Robotics Solutions, the robotics division of U.S.-headquartered offshore energy services provider Helix Energy Solutions Group, has secured a contract with Italian cable systems giant Prysmian for its T1400-2 trencher.

The contract will see the trencher perform post-installation cable burial on multiple projects in the Mediterranean and North Sea.

In combination with a work-class remotely operated vehicle (ROV), the T1400-2 subsea trencher will operate from a vessel supplied by Prysmian PowerLink and is expected to trench over 180 kilometers of cable.

The contract is set to begin in July and span a minimum of six months.

According to Helix, this marks the first major deployment of the T1400-2 system since its acquisition, refurbishment, and integration into the company’s asset fleet.

The system features a trenching vehicle with a versatile trenching module and a launch and recovery system (LARS) rated for Lloyd’s sea state 6. It can be configured as a tracked jetting and hybrid cutting/jetting trenching vehicle, the company said.

For this project, the trencher will be set up in jetting mode.

Seaway7, part of the Subsea7 Group, recently awarded the Houston-headquartered company with a contract for the burial of inter-array cables at the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm site in the UK.