For the design and construction of a new subsea trenching vehicle, named “Swordfish”, Osbit Ltd. (UK) was in need of a subsea trencher lift umbilical, used for launch and recovery of a subsea asset and transmission of electrical power and fibre optic communications. In their search, they came into contact with DeRegt.
The Swordfish will be a high-quality subsea trenching vehicle, that can be assigned with a wide variety of soil conditions and bury cables up to 3.5 meters deep. For optimal trenching performance, the main jetting tool is combined with front-cutting nozzles and additional rear backwash swords. The vehicle uses modular buoyancy to cut its underwater weight in jetting mode. Because of this, the vehicle can also operate in very soft soil conditions.
Delivery of the Swordfish is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022. At that time, Osbit’s client puts the Swordfish into operation.
On June 4th, De Regt was officially contracted as Cable Partner. It was up to our cable experts to translate the required cable specifications for the Swordfish into a cable design. The result: a multifunctional cable that perfectly fits the trenching vehicle.
"What makes this project special," says Matthieu Scheffers, Sales Manager at De Regt Cables, "is that a project like this is fairly unique in the ROV industry. The umbilical cable will be used for both lifting the subsea trencher and provision of all electrical and communication requirements.
The challenge is mostly in the weight. "The cable is used both for lifting the vehicle and for electricity and data supplies," explains Matthieu Scheffers. "This caliber of vehicles is usually lifted with a separate steel cable, but for the Swordfish, we are making a Trencher ROV umbilical cable that - as is common for smaller ROVs - combines various functions. A multifunctional cable for such a large vehicle is fairly unique."
De Regt is looking forward to this remarkable project and is keen on making the collaboration with Osbit a success.
Are you curious about what our Cable Experts can do for your ROV project? In our free-to-download Webinar on Demand, we cover all different design considerations for your unique project. You can also contact us here and express all your cabling needs.
