Hydrex Cleaning and UWILD for the Offshore Market
Following is a typical case study of Hydrex in-water cleaning and UWILD services for offshore vessels and units. In this case, Hydrex carried out a full inspection and removed all fouling from three drilling vessels in the Gulf of Mexico owned by Transocean. This was done to reduce the weight and drag of the vessels and increase their available deck load.
Hydrex had carried out repairs on other offshore units belonging to the same owner and he knew that the company could offer the required services without having to take the vessels to drydock. “We’ve known Transocean for a very long time,” says the Hydrex Senior Project Manager. “We first met during projects carried out on a big offshore repair yard in The Netherlands some years ago. We stayed in touch ever since, assisting them with the design and procedure for installing specific types of cofferdams and performing other repair work.”
Impressed by the complete package of both engineering and project management that Hydrex offers, the owner then asked Hydrex to perform the inspection and cleaning of one of their drilling vessels in the Gulf of Mexico. Satisfied with the way the operation was handled, a second and third drilling vessel were soon added.
The scope of work consisted of a comprehensive UWILD inspection of the three vessels, and an inspection of the weld seams in particular, and a cleaning of the underwater parts of the units. Replacement of anodes was also performed wherever needed and all overboard lines were blanked in order to enable inspection from the inside. The Hydrex teams also assisted with the removal of one of the vessels’ thrusters so that they could be overhauled.
The vessels were away from the field and because the crew also needed to carry out other maintenance and repair work on the vessels a very tight schedule had to be followed. This schedule allowed the team to plan the inspection and cleaning operation around the other work. Flexibility is a very important factor during a large operation like this. Hydrex teams are trained to adapt themselves to the customer’s program as much as possible instead of the other way around.
“We have gotten very good feedback from the customer,” says the Hydrex Senior Project Manager. “The way we handled a big operation like this was highly appreciated. This is very important for us. The customer needs to be satisfied with the result. We work very hard to keep improving our services to make sure that we can work out the best possible solution for any problem that a customer might be faced with.”
Hydrex also offers turnkey underwater repair solutions to offshore units wherever and whenever they are needed. Hydrex’s multi-disciplinary team will help you find the best solution for any problem encountered with your vessel below the water line. We will immediately mobilize our diver/technicians to carry out necessary repair work without the need to drydock.
All the projects we undertake are engineered and carried out in close cooperation with the customer and any third party suppliers, relieving the customer of all the hassle of coordination, planning and supervision.
