Seawork Exhibitor is ‘In the Groove’
01 Jun 2007
Seawork 2007 exhibitor LeBus International Engineers Ltd, manufacturer of LeBus grooved drums, sleeves, spooling systems and purpose built winch equipment, are certainly in the groove at the present time with both their UK Divisions securing major contracts and enjoying a healthy future order book.
The Deck Machinery Division, based in Lancashire, has recently been awarded a significant contract from Subsea 7 to provide a total of 12 ROV handling winches and associated equipment for their upcoming Shell ROV, SV and DSV newbuilds.
This equipment follows on from a series of similar winches recently supplied to the same customer for their current pipelay and flexlay vessels ‘Seven Oceans’ and ‘Seven Seas’.
The company is also actively involved in the design and development of a fully automatic axial spooling system, which will provide operators with a cost effective solution to ROV handling systems where deck space is at a premium. The initial system has been produced, in conjunction with the engineering staff at Subsea 7, for utilization on the construction vessel ‘Normand 7’.
Other equally prestigious, ongoing contracts include a LARS ROV lift and umbilical services winch for SMD Hydrovision Ltd., umbilical spooler units for JDR Cable Systems Ltd., an umbilical reeler for Lewis Ltd. and an underwater latching winch for Tidal Generation Ltd.
Recently completed contracts include the submarine handling winches for the new NATO submarine rescue system PLARS, designed and built by The Engineering Business Ltd., dockgate operating system for Dubai Drydocks, various air winches for Single Buoy Moorings Inc., wind turbine blade test winches for NaREC Ltd. and numerous umbilical deployment winches for BP operations in Azerbaijan in conjunction with Amclyde Norson Engineering.
The majority of these winch projects involve marine applications where the capacity of wire rope or cable to be accommodated can be as great as 3,500m. To ensure that accurate multi-layer spooling is maintained, LeBus grooving is installed and is essential to the reliable and efficient day to day operation of the winches.






