April Company Spotlight - Hydro-Lek

Hydro-Lek: Leading Providers of Deep Sea and Remote Tooling for the Subsea, Nuclear, and Defense Industries

Simple, Compact, and Robust Tooling
Hydro-Lek is a leading supplier of remote handling systems for the subsea, nuclear, and defense industries. Products range from simple hydraulic components to fully integrated, telemetry-controlled remote manipulator systems for remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and remote-access platforms. Our extensive engineering experience and operations-led approach has positioned Hydro-Lek as the supplier of choice for compact, simple-to-operate, and highly robust remote handling systems. With the general increase in demand for more robust and cost-effective tooling, Hydro-Lek’s products are used reliably and extensively in some of the most hostile environments worldwide by a wide range of major ROV manufacturers. To date, Hydro-Lek has built and delivered almost 1,000 manipulator systems worldwide.

Founded in 1996, Hydro-Lek was acquired by Saab Seaeye in 2013 and is committed to a continuous program of delivering innovative tooling products as quickly as possible to the highest standards of customer service and product reliability.

Manipulators
Hydro-Lek designs and manufactures a wide range of compact hydraulic manipulators for small-class and medium-class ROVs and other remote platforms.

Ranging from a lightweight 5-function arm weighing less than 5 kg in water to a rugged work-class 7-function manipulator, Hydro-Lek has become the supplier of choice for many remote intervention tasks where versatility, reliability—and cost effectiveness—are critical.

A selection of Hydro-Lek's range of ROV tooling and hydraulic system components.

Hydraulic System Components
Our range of system components include rotary actuators, hydraulic cylinders, HPUs, valve packs, fittings, and telemetry control systems. Hydro-Lek continually develops our product line in a modular format so that bespoke solutions can be produced readily and cost effectively to suit customer requirements without the need for extensive redesign.

ROV Tooling
Hydro-Lek manufactures a range of cutters, camera booms, pan and tilts, and cleaning tools for subsea inspection, cleaning, and salvage operations.

Hydro-Lek's deep ocean interaction platform, HyBIS.

Special Projects
In addition to providing specialist tooling, Hydro-Lek offers a bespoke design and build service. With a reputation spanning over 20 years, Hydro-Lek understands the challenges presented by working in remote and inhospitable environments and can draw on this expertise with a sound and trusted product base to deliver the best solution within clients’ timescales and budgets.

An example of Hydro-Lek’s project engineering expertise is HyBIS, our deep-ocean surveying and sampling vehicle. Capable of operating to depths of up to 6,000 m, HyBIS has been deployed for missions of bulk sampling; pick and place applications on the seafloor; OBS and OBEM positioning and orientation; instrument recovery; and to discover, film, and sample the world’s deepest hydrothermal vents. HyBIS is designed to operate in conjunction with existing deck handling and cable systems used on towed sonar arrays, thereby eliminating the need for additional and costly deck handing equipment.

Some of the many other applications Hydro-Lek has supported include deep-sea salvage, nuclear decommissioning, connection of power supply to subsea turbines, marine archaeological retrieval, scientific research, and manned and unmanned submarine tooling.

Hydro-Lek maintains high stock levels of all standard products and spare parts to ensure fast deliveries for new orders and after-sales. Our close proximity to London Heathrow Airport provides us with a first-rate equipment despatch point to deliver quickly and efficiently to anywhere in the world. We are also able to provide full maintenance support and comprehensive training worldwide on all our products.

To find out more about Hydro-Lek products and services, visit our website www.hydro-lek.com or e-mail enquiries@hydro-lek.com.