NCS Survey saipem contract – by David Goodfellow
Aberdeen UK based NCS Survey has been awarded a major contract worth between €2m to €3m by Saipem SpA for pipelay support during the inshore phase of the Nord Stream Pipeline Project, comprising two gas pipelines linking Russia and the EU via the Baltic Sea.
Andy Gray, the Scottish company’s chief executive, says work will commence in the middle of this year and involve deployment of NCS’s real-time Touchdown Monitoring (TDM) sonar system which eliminates any need for DP2 class ROV support vessels on pipe and cable lay projects in water depths less than 50m.
The system actively tracks a pipe catenary during lay operations using a novel beam-steering technique embedded in its own software. It minimises risks of laying near any subsea structures or other active pipelines, even in zero visibility. Established five years ago, NCS currently employs over 60 specialist staff and says it has so far completed over 400 projects in 32 countries.
EMU expands operations
Emu Ltd, the survey and consultancy company based at Southampton UK, has expanded its operations with acquisition of a new site at Trafalgar Wharf at the top of Portsmouth Harbour. Managing director Simon Shaw says the waterside location provides excellent facilities, including a wet and dry dock together with extended office accommodation, laboratories and warehouse storage space.
The company, which has recently completed oceanographic field studies in the River Medway for a proposed new jetty, maintains four survey vessels and is closely involved with assessments of sites for offshore wind farms, both in the UK and continental Europe. It also provides worldwide survey and consultancy support for organisations involved with renewables, oil and gas, marine aggregates and environmental management.
