Rotech Subsea Ltd. Competes Major Sand-Wave Clearance for Van Oord

Rotech Subsea Ltd. has competed a major sand-wave clearance for Van Oord at the Norther Off-shore Wind Farm in the Belgian North Sea. Aberdeen-based subsea excavation pioneer, Rotech, deployed its state-of-the-art TRS2 Controlled Flow Excavation tool to carry out the scope of work.

The TRS2, part of Rotech’s fleet of 2^nd generation non-contact excavation tools, was selected by Van Oord due to its unique performance characteristics. The result was that instead of the two campaigns originally programmed to clear the route, the entire scope was completed in a single campaign, bringing the client’s schedule of works forward.

“The capabilities of the TRS2’s Controlled Flow Technology and its ability to pre-sweep a wide cor-ridor extremely quickly and effectively resulted in increased productivity and a reduction on the pro-ject’s total costs,” said Rotech Subsea Director, Stephen Cochrane. “Sand-waves up to 2.5m in height were excavated successfully in water depths of up to 35m. The project was a huge success, allowing for the Norther IAC to be accessed for burial. Soil conditions were described as Very Dense Silty Sand to Clay, and the TRS2 achieved an excellent average excavation rate of 3m/min.”

With the sand-wave scope successfully completed ahead of schedule, Rotech’s recently developed RSG cable grab tool has been deployed on a cable recovery scope until February 2020.