Trident Energy’s first saturation diving and subsea export hose replacement campaign in Equatorial Guinea
We recently completed our first saturation diving event and subsea export hose replacement, marking a significant milestone for the company. We are very pleased with the work performed offshore by our teams and contractors, both projects were completed within the scheduled timeline and without any incidents.
A great deal of effort and detail went into planning and executing these technically complex and safety-critical projects. Here are some great milestones achieved during the two diving campaigns executed by Rana (our diving contractor in Italy):
- 50+ successful saturation dives
- 400+ successful air dives including in-excess of 270 hours of bottom time
- No downtime of air diving spread
- No LTIs
Overcoming challenges
There were a number of constraints during planning and design, including not having access to a crane and the desire to minimize diving time. These were considered when we had to install a flexible flowline between two platforms, but one asset needed the existing riser replaced first. By removing the riser and fabricating a new one within the platform, using short pipe sections and mechanical connectors that were on-site, we were able to find a solution that also avoided hot work.
On another platform, we encountered the challenge of not having a riser and the need to install a new one. Due to this, we decided to move forward with a subsea cold tap solution. By creating a new subsea tie-in point into our rigid flowline network, we avoided having to undergo a major topside fabrication and installation scope.
With our innovative approach, we were able to deliver cost-effective solutions. We have done a great deal of this work in-house, leveraging past experiences and excellent teamwork, while for other scopes we have worked with key vendors whom we have already delivered exciting projects with.
Future projects
We will be conducting a similar campaign before the end of 2022 in Brazil, to perform inspection maintenance and report work.