IHC Merwede, now known as Royal IHC, has unveiled the world’s first four-tracked subsea trencher, specifically developed for shallow water operations and targeted towards cable burial in offshore windfarms.
The Hi-Traq was presented at a special event at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, which was attended by offshore wind industry professionals from the UK, Europe and the US.
This new remotely operated vehicle has been developed to be an efficient tracked trencher, capable of tackling the full range of challenges typically faced in this application.
High wave loadings and strong currents at the seabed meant the vehicle had to have a minimum weight to guarantee safe, accurate working and efficient trenching operations, for example. Varied seabed soil conditions were also considered in the Hi-Traq’s design.
The vehicle was successfully tested and demonstrated at IHC’s Port of Tyne facility in South Shields, where a special terrain was created to mimic subsea conditions.
Hi-Traq was developed at IHC Engineering Business, which has a strong record of developing various vehicles for subsea work.
These machines are used in a variety of applications, including hard soil trenching in both the oil and gas and offshore wind sectors. They include, for example, the Canyon i-Trencher.
Hi-Traq is IHC EB’s latest project and it is specifically designed for the burial of inter-array cables at offshore windfarms. It is designed to live in the harsh environment of the Southern North Sea where most offshore windfarms are located and planned.
Hi-Traq is part of the so-called RETA (Regional Energy Technology Accelerator) project, which was part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund Programme 2007 to 2013.
The Department for Communities and Local Government was the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme, which is one of the funds established by the European Commission to help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support local businesses and create jobs.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the North Sea, another group member, IHC Hytech has secured an order for two innovative containerised air-dive spreads from Bluestream, an offshore and subsea company that operates in the oil and gas, and renewable energy sectors.
These systems comprise a containerised 1,800mm decompression chamber with a full three-dive control panel and a separate machinery container that will be modified to meet client needs.
The complete containerised air dive spread has been certified by Lloyd’s Register, as part of the increasingly stringent regulations that govern those involved in the surface-supplied diving industry.
IHC Hytech is to supply the chambers in standard 20ft containers and the dive control panel with the latest available technologies in dive monitoring and layout design.
For example, it will be computerised with a remote readout and complete sensor package. The divers’ data acquisition system will be installed in a rack system with (among other features) two radios, inline breathing gas supply, oxygen percentage monitoring, video systems and various alarm units.
The divers’ data monitoring system is described as state-of-the-art and displays and records vital data, including diver and chamber depth against time, and the dive control is installed with the latest camera and light control units for optimised subsea images.
The systems being prepared for Bluestream will also include an inline air purity monitoring system with a multi-sensor gas analyser.
This is specifically designed for the analysis of contaminants in compressed breathing air and offers an online analysis facility. This is complemented by the monitoring of the breathing gas compressor inlet for optimum safety.
Dutch company Bluestream is already and established client of IHC Hytech.
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