High Capacity Carousels: Modularity, Technical Development and Innovation

Marine installation operations are becoming ever longer, larger and deeper. With campaigns regularly being carried out in the 2,000–3,000m water depth range and tieback lengths on the increase; installation, replacement or recovery works for this specification of product requires specialist equipment that can accommodate the increasing bulk of the flexible products being installed, without compromising the performance of the vessels which carry them.In order to fulfil this technical challenge, new and innovative carousel designs are being developed. Placing the ‘reel’ horizontally allows maximum product capacity whilst minimising the impact on the vessel, thus maintaining operational efficiency in both shallow and deep waters and for projects such as subsea tiebacks and connections to processing platforms and offshore installations.This paper explores recent developments in technology, where product loads of up to 1,500Te (Tonnes) are frequently required and ever shorter schedules are placed on contractors for initial spooling and subsequent installation. Technical innovations, operational solutions and commercial advantages will be assessed and the ability to open up new markets with the technology on offer will be scrutinised.Alongside this, the benefits of modularity are evaluated to quantify the advantages of being able to disassemble and transport this type of hardware worldwide and the vessel utilisation improvements that can be made.© 2014 ASME