Rotech Subsea has completed a programme of cable inspection, repair and maintenance works at an offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.
The company was commissioned by a European subsea service provider to complete the works in September.
The cable repair operations saw Rotech’s RS2 controlled flow excavation tool (pictured) de-bury approximately 800 metres of existing cable before carrying out the burial of new cable.
The RS2 was deployed from the RS Sentinel vessel using the ship’s crane where it operated in water depths of 25 metres and de-buried the cable from 1.64 – 2.2 metres below the seabed.
Forward and aft Dyneema Rope tuggers were also used for stability during operations.
Soil conditions were medium-dense to dense sand with currents reported at 0.2–1.8kts and general sea states 0–2m, Rotech said.
The RS2 tool operated at 3–4m above seabed with the cable lowered to client specification of 1.5–2m below seabed level, the company added.
Rotech Subsea director of subsea Stephen Cochrane said: “Yet another successfully completed scope of work – completed on schedule and on budget – confirms Rotech Subsea’s cutting edge RS CFE suite of tools as the method of choice for cable trenching in the European offshore wind sector.
“With yet more innovations due to be unveiled to the market in early 2022, our RS tools are providing deeper, narrower trenches than ever before, with progress rates more than double that of competing Mass Flow Excavation tools.”
Rotech said that further enhancements to controlled flow excavation and related subsea services are soon to be unveiled.