Aquatic Engineering & Construction is working with DNV GL and other organizations in the subsea supply chain, on a joint industry project (JIP) to develop a set of guidelines to be incorporated into new or existing DNV GL Offshore Standards or Recommended Practices. The guidelines will be, ‘The Development of Codes for Offshore Equipment for Cable and Pipe Laying – Phase 1.’
“We were eager to get involved with this ground breaking project due to the lack of coherent standards for the specification, design, manufacture, procurement and approval of equipment intended for use in offshore cable and pipe laying operations,” said David Tibbetts, vice president, technology, Aquatic. “The work involves engineering and technical experts from contractors and equipment manufacturers like Aquatic, collaborating in order to establish joint industry guidelines for our type of equipment, where at present nothing exists. Subject to satisfactory completion of the first two phases, a third phase undertaken by DNV GL will result in the publication of an Offshore Standard or Recommend Practice for cable/pipe laying equipment.”
The road map for the project proposed by DNV GL in November 2014 consisted of the following phases:
Phase 1: mapping the big picture. This is intended to provide a common, system level understanding of the equipment required for the successful laying of cables and pipes.
Phase 2: mapping the detail. This is intended to focus on the individual components of the system to identify their inputs, outputs and interaction with other system components.
Phase 3: Following the culmination of Phases 1 and 2, which are scheduled to be completed during 2016 and will result in the creation of industry guidelines and a glossary of common terms for cable and pipe laying equipment, there is potential for a third phase, which will lead to the publication of a DNV GL Standard for Certification or Recommended Practice.
“Consistency and collaboration within the industry is essential,” said Marius Popa, lead naval architect, DNV GL. “Individual practices create unnecessary cost and risk, so the development of a unified approach will ensure standardization across the supply chain. The JIP will deliver a decision tool that can be used by all stakeholders during the specification, design, manufacture, procurement and approval of any equipment intended for use in offshore cable/pipe laying and recovery.”
Phase 1 participants include: Allseas Engineering; Amclyde Norson Engineering; Aquatic Engineering & Construction; IHC Engineering Business; IHC SAS; MAATS Tech; NLI Offshore & Marine Products; Parkburn Precision Handling Systems; Reel SAS (IMECA); Saipem Group; Subsea 7; and Technip.