Aquatic And ITB Subsea Complete Power Cable Installation In British Columbia, Canada

Aquatic Engineering and Construction Ltd, an Acteon company, has successfully completed a project alongside ITB Subsea (a subsidiary of the ITB Marine Group), ahead of schedule, to lay power cables for British Columbia Hydro, the main provider of electricity in British Columbia, Canada.

Quadra Island lies just off the east coast of Vancouver Island and is part of the Discovery Islands, located within the Strathcona Regional District. In January this year, British Columbia Hydro announced plans to significantly invest to increase its supply to the residents of this area, with a series of projects to deliver one of the largest expansions of electrical infrastructure in the Province’s history.^*

For the Quadra Island phase of the area upgrade, Aquatic deployed its multi-reel solution and supplied a 120 te modular drive system (AQPR-07-120) with tracks (AQPRTS-02) to drive four 4.5 m diameter reels with 13,120 m of 89 mm diameter custom cable. The scope of work required a lay speed of 900 metres per hour. However, the Aquatic system, allied to ITB’s seamanship, exceeded that by almost a third and successfully laid the cable at a speed of 1150 metres per hour.

The equipment was mobilised from Aquatic’s US base at Morgan City, Louisiana. Having a full suite of equipment in North America enabled Aquatic to react swiftly to this project.

Martin Charles, managing director, Aquatic, said, “The main benefit of a multi-reel solution is the ability to manage costs and resources. Our multi-reel lay solution allows for the product to be readied onshore in controlled inspection conditions. We were able to carry all four reels on our extendable track system, allowing our teams to lay the power cable without the barge needing to shuttle up and down the Straits

of Georgia, between the installation location and the transpooling site. This results in a more efficient use of the vessel and a higher lay rate and time and craneage cost savings. We would like to thank ITB Subsea for using us as a subcontractor during this project, and we look forward to future co-operations.”

Mike Shaw, General Manager, ITB Subsea, said, “ITB Subsea provides a wide range of marine services to many different industries, and our services include underwater cable laying, commercial diving, ROV services, and marine construction. We have been installing submarine cables on the west coast of North America for more than 50 years. For this project, Aquatic successfully provided equipment to supplement our spread of specialized cable installation equipment, and it was a great experience to have the Aquatic team onboard.”

About Aquatic
Aquatic is the market leading independent operator of modular carousels, reel drive systems and tensioner solutions for the global oil and gas, telecommunications and energy industries. Aquatic is a global partner for complete lay solutions, delivering assured, optimised project outcomes through the consistent provision of the best people, equipment, reach and approach. For more information, visit www.aquaticsubsea.com.

About ITB Subsea
ITB Subsea services include underwater cable laying, commercial diving, ROV services, and marine construction. With knowledgeable people, professional divers, customized equipment and more than 50 years of experience, ITB Subsea can provide effective and efficient solutions in the most challenging environments. For more information, visit www.itbsubsea.com.

About Acteon
Acteon provides a range of global subsea services from surveying, installation, asset integrity management through to decommissioning. Acteon’s companies are: 2H Offshore, Aquatic, Clarus Subsea Integrity, Claxton Engineering, Conductor Installation Services (CIS), Core Grouting Services, InterAct, InterMoor, J2 Subsea, LDD, LM Handling, MENCK, Mirage Machines, NCS Survey, Offshore Installation Services (OIS), Probe Oil Tools, Pulse Structural Monitoring, Seatronics, Subsea Riser Products (SRP), TEAM Energy Resources and UTEC Survey. Acteon’s companies share knowledge and experience to add value and create effective, tailored solutions for clients across four business segments: survey, monitoring and data; risers and moorings; seabed foundation technologies; and project support services. For more information, visit www.acteon.com.

About subsea services
Acteon's aim is to define, shape and lead subsea services through best-in-class expertise offering full market coverage across the whole life of a subsea field. Acteon’s integrated approach to subsea services makes it easy for clients to combine capabilities to meet their specific project needs. Acteon’s subsea services companies share knowledge and experience across four business segments, survey, monitoring and data; risers and moorings; seabed foundation technologies; and project support services, to deliver highly efficient solutions tailored to a client’s unique challenges, thereby reducing overall cost, risk and complexity.

Project support services
Acteon provides manpower, project execution strategies, portable machining and cutting equipment and installation and recovery services to add value and support the delivery of major projects by creating effective, tailored solutions for clients. Acteon offers specialist equipment, including riser systems, installation workover control systems, mooring systems and innovative packaged solutions to align with procurement strategies. The company provides access to the world’s largest modular carousel and modular flexible pipe and universal laying equipment support along with specialist services to reduce capital expenditure and manpower provision to meet project needs worldwide.

^* Source: http://www.campbellrivermirror.com/news/289228121.html.