The Dubai subsidiary of Scottish energy industry equipment manufacturer and service provider Flowline Specialists has recently completed work on a major subsea umbilical, riser and flexible (SURF) lay project in the Middle East.
Flowline Specialists was contracted to assist in laying various flexible flowlines, umbilicals and cables from reels of varying size and weight as part of the project. The Dubai business was established in 2015 by Flowline Specialists, which is based in Oldmeldrum and designs, engineers and manufactures a range of cable handling and deployment equipment for use in the energy industry, as part of its international growth strategy.
Four pieces of equipment from the firm’s range made up the lay spread for this offshore project. This included a 300-tonne modular hub drive system, a 75-tonne shaft drive spooler, a 15-tonne twin-track tensioner and a three-pair linear cable engine. The 300-tonne hub drive was fitted with a rail system to allow multi-reel deployment, in turn increasing project efficiency.
Overall project planning and operations for the Middle East SURF project were managed from Flowline Specialists’ UAE office by group operations manager Graeme Chalmers, with support from the firm’s UK-based engineering and operations teams. Equipment for the nine-month project was mobilised from the firm’s UK and UAE bases.
Six technicians from Flowline Specialists were on-hand for the project to operate the equipment and assist with the overall product deployment. The project was completed on-time with zero lost time incidents.
Headquartered in Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire, Flowline Specialists designs, engineers and manufactures a wide range of equipment for the global oil, gas, subsea and renewable industries. All of its equipment is road mobile and ferry compatible for rapid deployment in the UK and Europe. Established in 2001, the firm employs over 50 staff and has an additional manufacturing base at Fyvie, Aberdeenshire and operational bases in Dubai and The Netherlands.