Osbit Limited has successfully delivered an advanced multi-function pre-lay and backfill subsea plough to Global Marine Group.
The offshore technology company has designed and built the plough, which will now be known as PLP240, over a 20-week programme, following contract award in January. Final assembly and sign-off was completed at Osbit’s Port of Blyth facility, on time at the end of May, to meet an accelerated and demanding schedule driven by customer need.
Osbit has worked in close collaboration with Global Marine Group and its first client for the new plough, Vattenfall, to deliver a burial asset which will help to reduce the cost of offshore wind installation. This has been accomplished by optimising the vehicle to minimise project risks and combine operations to reduce the time required to install subsea cables.
The plough offers unrivalled single pass capability, which enables boulder clearance and pre-trenching up to 1.7m in a single run, leaving a boulder cleared swathe and a ‘backfill-ready’ open trench with segregated spoil. The plough is also fully subsea adjustable and features an extensive surveillance suite for accurate and effective trenching.
The plough can be reconfigured into backfill mode, which uses the same control and surveillance suite to monitor the cable and trench profile, enabling reliable backfilling whilst ensuring the safety of the cable at all times. Osbit’s innovative forward skid arrangement and surveillance equipment provide market-leading levels of cable integrity assurance.
The plough is supported by Osbit’s leading-edge control technology, which consists of an open source modular system incorporating Osbit Integrated Logistics Support (OILS) asset monitoring, packaged in an ergonomic control cabin.
Following its completion, the plough will now be officially launched by Global Marine Group during an event at its Port of Blyth facility, in early July.
Osbit Director Robbie Blakeman comments: “We are very proud to have delivered this class-leading subsea plough to Global Marine Group. We are committed to developing globally innovative subsea trenching solutions using our proven modular technology and the delivery of this project reinforces the effectiveness of this approach.
“I firmly believe that no other company could have delivered an asset of this technical competence, to the same levels of quality, in the same time frame. These achievements are testament to the skill and focus of our amazing team and our commitment to promoting a pioneering health & safety culture across all of our operations.
“I would like to thank Global Marine Group and Vattenfall for their genuine collaboration, which was key in supporting the project’s smooth execution, as well as our local supply chain, which played a major part in enabling this successful delivery and has again proven the world-class engineering capabilities in the North East region.
This has been a milestone project for Osbit and I’m delighted to say it has been delivered On Spec, Budget and In Time, while maintaining our zero Lost Time Injuries record.”
Martyn Drye, Director of Engineering at Global Marine Group, said “Our new PLP240 will allow us to reduce the time to first power production by shortening the wind farm construction phase, and therefore delivering an earlier return on investment for our developer clients. Through intelligent engineering alongside the Osbit team, we’ve created a versatile solution which integrates cable route preparation, cable laying and trenching – an industry first. The PLP240 complements our existing fleet of subsea trenchers and ploughs, offering clients a solution that’s right for them no matter which subsea sector they operate in.”
