UK: Two next generation deepwater pipeline ploughs designed and built by IHC Engineering Business (EB) have left EB's workshops on Tyneside for extensive offshore commissioning and installation on the owner's vessels.
The newbuild PL3 and BPL3 ploughs are the largest subsea ploughs EB has developed. Designed to handle pipeline diameters of up to 1.55 metres, in water depths of 1,000 metres, they will be used for the burial of main pipeline trunk routes across the globe. Their design follows the trend of ploughs being specified for larger pipe diameters, to match technological developments.
"Our design focused on increasing levels of performance, productivity, reliability and safety and will allow our client to trench the largest and longest subsea pipelines," said EB's Managing Director, Dr Tony Trapp.
Mike Crosby, Senior Engineer said that the PL3 plough weighs some 200 tonnes and measures 22 metres long. It has a 100-tonne capacity pipe handling equipment front and back and can create a 2.5-metre deep trench after multipass, and a 2.3-metre maximum single pass trench.
"The control system will be built into the ship bridge module, and this together with the use of a buoyant control umbilical will greatly increase productivity in comparison to previous spreads," Mr Crosby said.
"BPL3 is unlike any previous backfill plough. Aimed at reducing the risk of damage to the trenched pipeline, its front skids run outside the trench. As a result it has been designed to fold into itself, rather like a spider, for launch and recovery. Its design ensures it is possible to launch the plough in the correct orientation to save time during deployment."