ABS is drawing upon the industry experience of Horton Wison Deepwater, a leader in deepwater technology development, to further strengthen its knowledge for the certification of risers and flowlines as a certified verification agent (CVA) for these installations.
As part of its overall offshore platform verification program, the US Minerals Management Service (MMS) requires the use of a CVA specifically for riser systems. Risers connected to floating platforms are subject to stringent MMS requirements for design, fabrication and installation.
“Working with Horton Wison Deepwater will give us unmatched riser technical capabilities,” said Kenneth Richardson, ABS Vice President, Energy Development. “Riser technology is becoming increasingly important with ultra deepwater developments. With this agreement we will strengthen our technical teams, adding experience, technology, analytical software and engineering services to address not only today’s riser systems but also anticipate the systems of the future.”
Horton Wison Deepwater’s founder Ed Horton is the inventor of the spar and tension leg platform (TLP) production units, both standard deepwater concepts that represent an increasing majority of deepwater floating facilities in service today. The Horton Wison engineers have played important roles in the design and delivery of many of the spar riser systems deployed today.
“When developing floating systems technology we have found that working with ABS has made it easier for us to tackle the inevitable technical challenges,” said Jim Maher, Vice President, Horton Wison Deepwater. “In particular, ABS understands best how to navigate the regulatory processes. This agreement will make it easier to cooperate on the development of new technologies in the future. ”