Delmar Systems News

Chad Verret, a former executive in the offshore marine services business, has started a new marine consultancy called Verret Marine Consulting, LLC. The Louisiana-based company has offices in the Houston area and in Morgan City, La. and will be focused on areas such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel, alternative fuels and marine based liquefaction projects.Verret got his start in the offshore industry nearly 40 years ago, signing on with Tidewater Marine as a deckhand in 1985…

The provider of offshore mooring and subsea services, Delmar Systems said it completed an eight-line disconnect of the mooring system on Seadrill’s West Phoenix semi-submersible drilling rig on the UK Continental Shelf, using its RAR Plus Technology.The rig disconnection was performed in two and a half hours without needing anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel assistance. The West Phoenix is currently under contract with Equinor for a three well campaign, all of which are using Delmar’s Releasable Anchor Mooring System.Delmar’s RAR Plus is the first ever dual-release action (acoustic and mechanical) rig anchor release. It allows for immediate rig transit after release with the RAR Plus’ nested in their trigger sleeves against the rig fairlead.

Anchoring and mooring solutions provider Vryhof has made two senior appointments: Evan Zimmerman as Vryhof’s new Vice President and Chief Technology Officer and Clément Mochet as new Commercial Director for Vryhof’s business unit, Vryhof Anchors. Based in Houston, Zimmerman has been tasked with pushing improvement within Vryhof’s technology, management systems and engineering capabilities. In particular, he will support Vryhof in strengthening its mooring equipment technologies…

Measurement Technology NW (MTNW) implemented its running line tensiometer (RLT) technology with a Samson synthetic rope in an offshore mooring monitoring project engineered by Delmar Systems. This implementation is MTNW’s first use of tension measurement technology with 2”+ synthetic ropes. Recently, Delmar Systems was contracted to moor an offshore supply vessel (OSV) to a major offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The OSV is being used as a support vessel while dive operations are conducted.

Samson was awarded a patent titled Line Structure for Marine Use in Contaminated Environments. This technology was developed by Samson while partnering with Delmar Systems on its patented Omni-Max gravity-installed anchor system. Proper deployment of the new anchor design would have been hampered by the use of traditional anchor chain in this application. The additional weight of chain affects the trajectory of the anchor causing insufficient embedment into the seabed. To address this issue, Samson engineers developed a synthetic alternative that replaces the anchor chain. One of the biggest challenges in this application was protection of the synthetic rope from the damaging effects of outside contaminants it comes in contact with during use.

As BP, the National Response Team, and an army of volunteers respond to the Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico, NOIA member companies are lending their resources in an unprecedented cooperative effort to stop the flow of oil and prevent further damage to the environment. These resources include land-based and offshore facilities, aircraft, marine vessels, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), a containment dome, subsea tooling, subsea video, dispersant, personnel, and technical expertise on suction systems, blowout preventers, dispersant injection, well construction, containment options, subsea wells, environmental science, emergency response, spill assistance, well intervention, and drilling and well competence.

What About Cuba? Political allegiance notwithstanding, continuing unrest and war in the energy critical Middle East continues to wreak havoc with world oil prices, with consumers around the world struggling to keep up with fast escalating gasoline prices. While (at press time) the benchmark prices for a barrel of crude have settled just under $40, the situation has spurred new exploration and production ventures, one such speculation in the Gulf of Mexico off of Cuba. According to a recent report in The Economist (June 5, 2004 edition, page 48), Spain's Repsol has moved into position a Deep Water drilling rig off of the country's northwest coast with the intention of drilling two wildcat wells in what could amount to a successful attempt to energize a failing economy.

Friede Goldman Halter, Inc. (FGH) announced the appointment of Robert L. Champagne, CPA, as its Executive Vice President and CFO. Champagne has been employed with KPMG for 28 years, 18 of which he served as a partner in the firm. In addition to Mr. Champagne's appointment, Chuck DeCuir has been appointed Senior Vice President, Contracts, Legal Affairs and Risk Management, of Friede Goldman Halter, Inc. "Since becoming CEO, I have made it a major focus to strengthen the financial and Corporate Risk Management areas of the Company. Bobs 18 years of partnership experience, working with a number of publicly held companies, gives us solid financial leadership.

Delmar Systems, Inc. and Shell Deepwater Development, Inc. set another world record for mooring depth when the two companies partnered to moor Transocean Marianas in more than 7,500 ft. in the Gulf of Mexico. Semi-submersible drilling rig Marianas was moored in 7,569 ft. in Mississippi Canyon 657 using a Suction Anchor System and Delmar's Single Vessel Installation Procedure. The deepest anchor was set at 7,738 ft. The mooring system consists of eight 12-ft. diameter by 60 ft. long suction anchors embedded in the seafloor and attached to 10,000 ft. of 3.75 in. wire rope with the specially designed Delmar Sub Sea Connector. The connector allowed mooring line connection by an ROV provided by Oceaneering International, Inc.