Page 51: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Mar/Apr 2024)

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LOGISTICS FLEX LAY PROJECTS s the demand for energy continues to rise, fu- eled by global population growth and fght against energy poverty in developing econo-

A mies, competition for access to enabling assets is intensifying. This is particularly true for the offshore in- dustry, where specialist vessels play a crucial role in explo- ration, development and production.

In this competitive landscape, where new energy devel- opers share the same pool of resources with established oil and gas players, cable layers, anchor handlers and other construction vessels are rapidly becoming in very short supply.

At the same time, operators and EPIC companies are increasingly looking for technologies and solutions to de- carbonize their operations and make them safer, faster and more automated.

Something’s gotta give… It’s time to apply alternative thinking to fex lay projects.

Let’s Start with a Clean Back Deck

MDL has a track record in supporting EPICs and inde- pendent operators with packages of portable equipment enabling effcient lay or retrieval of fexibles from “vessels of opportunity” – ships within the client’s feet or locally available in the region.

Adopting a modular spread approach allows several back-deck layout confgurations to be considered depend- ing on the fnal specifcation of vessel selected i.e. moon- pool deployment, over-side deployment or deployment over stern.

A fexible back-deck solution allows smaller, more cost- effective vessels to be considered which may not have been deemed feasible previously. This may also include a vessel with other equipment on board that could perform other tasks whilst in-feld, not just the installation – which car- ries a whole new host of time and cost benefts on a project.

The MDL differentiator in the portable equipment market is the versatility and capability of its technology.

An example is the MDL Horizontal Lay System (HLS) - an industry-proven alternative that can replicate the func- tionality of a Vertical Lay System (VLS). The MDL HLS integrates a pipelay tensioner and an overboarding chute, together with other project-specifc equipment, into a sin- gle modular frame. This integrated system allows the prod- uct to be transferred from the horizontal to vertical orien- tation, facilitating the installation and recovery of risers, with the capability to install or remove the product jewelry

MARCH/APRIL 2024 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 51