iXBlue Delivers two OCEANO Heavy Duty Acoustic Releases to Saipem

iXBlue has delivered two OCEANO HD55 Heavy Duty Acoustic Releases (HDAR) rated up to 55 tones to Saipem for pipeline installations in West Africa. Saipem is an EPIC (Engineering, Procurement, Installation, Commissioning) contractor delivering turnkey projects in the Oil & Gas sector.

At the initiation stage of a pipelay operation the pipeline initiation head is connected to a DMA (Dead Man Anchor) and held under tension. The final disconnection from the pipelay vessel is usually achieved with a hydraulic cutter installed on the end of the pipe. The cutter is activated from a separate ship. A sacrificial part of the connection sling is cut to release the pipe.

In order to simplify the operations and allow deeper and safer installation, the hydraulic cutter is replaced by the HDAR (OCEANO HD55). The HDAR is activated directly from the laying barge using a surface Telecommand system.