Ecosse Subsea Systems (ESS) has progressed its
subsea lifting programme by successfully completing client-witnessed trials
of its Ambient Lifting technology at its Aberdeenshire research and development
facility.
UK-based ESS is a leading subsea technology
company which designs and manufactures a number of pioneering technologies
which are deployed in the traditional oil and gas sector and emerging renewables
industries.
Ambient Lifting works by decoupling the subsea
load from the surface vessel by utilising the Archimedes principle, the
fundamental law that provides floatation for all ships.
The Ambient Lifting system can be used to
lift, lower or hover any subsea object in the water-column and act as either
a temporary installation aid or form part of the final subsea asset as
either buoyancy or ballast.
The system does not require the use of heavy
lift vessels, utilises off-the-shelf components and is fully scalable.
Applications in the oil and gas, renewables, decommissioning, salvage and
seabed mining markets, are cited as key development areas for uses of this
technology.
In a similar manner to their successful SCAR
seabed trenching system, ESS incorporates a safe, simple and robust design
philosophy into all their technologies.
ESS believes Ambient Lifting can realise significant
savings to offshore operations, particularly those associated with installation
and recovery of all subsea assets, no matter what shape or size.
ESS Technical Director, Michael Cowie, said:
“Ecosse are excited about the potential to introduce this new subsea
lifting technology to such a variety of applications and markets. The success
of our recent trials was reinforced by one client who requested an exclusive
licence agreement for their specific application.
“ESS see the current energy sectors as
an opportunity and will continue moving forward with focus on technologies
that bring appreciable cost savings for our clients.”
