MDL Completes SURF Lay Project Offshore China

February 9, 2021 | Maritime | Energy Facts Staff Writer | 3min

The MDL Horizontal Lay System (HLS) was used for the overside installation of power cables in the Liuhua field, South China Sea.

The MDL HLS was mobilised with MDL TTS-4/310 Series Tensioner, complete with steel pads for safe and controlled handling of the umbilical.

Prior to the mission in Asia Pacific, the vessel had travelled to the Gulf of Mexico to transpool the product onto the on-board carousel. At this time, an MDL Superintendent operated the tensioner to carry out squeeze tests on a product sample.

Other features on the MDL HLS include a 4.5m overboarding chute; pivoting davit arms for efficient and safe handling of buoyancy modules; a retractable work platform for ease of passing of midline connections; and a retractable hang-off clamp.

The clamp was complete with an adaptor hang-off plate, easily mountable in two half-moon sections, to further facilitate safe jewellery handling. To protect the integrity of the product during deployment, a tulip was integrated into the HLS work platform.

The hang-off plate and the tulip were both engineered and manufactured by MDL’s in-house team for the project.

The integration of these time-saving features into the HLS structure result in a system allowing safe vertical deployment of the product, while keeping the footprint of the solution compact and mobilisation requirements and operator numbers to a minimum.

Andrew Blaquiere, MDL Managing Director, said:

“Our flex-lay expertise and innovative technology truly came to the fore in this project – a first of its kind for MDL in China.

“The HLS provided the client with a compact yet versatile solution for vertical product deployment on a vessel not equipped in a VLS. We also ensured that the tensioner was mobilised with steel pads for the operation, based on our knowledge and prior experience of handling this specific product.

“Our PM&E expertise, technical skillset and proven track record in pipelay allow us to minimise client interfaces and streamline costs by delivering complete support packages, from project planning through execution, to follow-on campaigns.

“I look forward to supporting more project teams with our complete skillset, helping optimise budgets and schedules on projects globally.”