Subsea Vision has taken delivery of a Saab Seaeye Cougar XT Compact, the low profile powerful ROV specially designed for working in high current areas and where access is restricted.
Subsea Vision’s immediate target market for the Cougar XT Compact is the North Sea oil and gas industry. Further applications for the leaner Cougar are within the wind and tidal renewable markets where strong shallow water currents are a particular problem.
It means that Subsea Vision, the specialist ROV supplier, can now offer an enhanced service to floating production, storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs). Utilising their ROV systems from the client’s vessel or platform saves clients from contracting expensive ROVSVs and holdback tugs. With the Cougar’s exceptional power it can free-swim with ease to reach the furthest points on an FPSO or clients’ subsea assets from a single launch point. Complete with a combined HP water jetting and hydraulic skid Subsea Vision can offer a diverse range of subsea services.
This follows industry projections that the demand for FPSOs is set to double by 2015 as companies seek new areas for exploration and production.
“The Cougar XT Compact will be able to work for longer periods in strong tidal areas and Subsea Vision will be able to offer larger tooling packages, such as pipe tracking systems and manipulator / hydraulic skids for light work class operations,” says Subsea Vision’s Chris Bryant.
The unrivalled power and manoeuvrability of the Cougar XT Compact comes from its six thrusters: four vectored horizontal and two vertical, each with velocity feedback for precise control in all directions, and interfaced to a fast-acting control system and solid-state gyro for enhanced azimuth stability.
To create a compact version and minimise the effect of current, Saab Seaeye engineers set about reducing the frame size, buoyancy and weight to create a compact design that has the highest thrust to weight ratio in its class.
Subsea Vision’s Cougar XT Compact comes with dual fibre optics that will, says Chris Bryant, bring unprecedented video quality and multi channel flexibility for integrated tooling options and a dedicated fibre optic link for client specific tooling.
The ROV adds to Subsea Vision’s existing fleet of Saab Seaeye vehicles.
“For over 11 years we have found Saab Seaeye ROVs to be reliable, with unprecedented power, adaptability and performance. The Cougar XT Compact was an obvious choice for us,” says Chris Bryant .
As an accredited Saab Seaeye training centre, Subsea Vision’s aim is to expand knowledge of Saab Seaeye ROV systems and build confidence in fault finding and maintenance to the operators, both offshore and onshore. Training is undertaken at the company’s classroom and workshop or at a client’s premises.
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Offshore WIND staff, June 22, 2012; Image: Saab Seaeye