Osbit delivers class-leading subsea plough

Offshore engineering experts Osbit have successfully delivered an advanced multi-function pre-lay and backfill subsea plough to subsea cable experts, Global Marine. Boasting an innovative forward skid arrangement and surveillance equipment, Osbit’s subsea plough provides market-leading levels of cable integrity assurance, as PIF reports.

Offshore technology company, Osbit, designed and built their subsea cable plough, which is known as PLP240, over a 20-week programme, following the award of the contract in January. The final assembly and sign-off was completed on time at Osbit’s Port of Blyth facility to meet an accelerated and demanding schedule driven by the customer’s scheduling needs.

Fully adjustable subsea plough

Osbit has worked in close collaboration with Global Marine Group and its first client for the new subsea 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 subsea cable 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 subsea plough is also fully adjustable and features an extensive surveillance suite for accurate and effective trenching.

The subsea 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.

Class-leading subsea cable plough

The subsea cable 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 was officially launched by Global Marine Group during an event at it's Port of Blyth facility.

Osbit Director, Robbie Blakeman, said: “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 and safety culture across all of our operations.”

Versatile engineering solution

Osbit’s subsea plough design certainly proved a hit with their clients, Global Marine Group. 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.”

For more information, visit www.osbit.com.