Power and automation firm ABB is to provide software for three newbuild deepwater subsea construction vessels being built by new company Ultra Deep Solutions.
Ultra Deep Solutions was set up in 2014, by industry veteran Sheldon Hutton, with the aim to build and operate ultra deep diving and heavy construction vessels.
In December 2015, the firm signed a contract to build a DP2 FiFi2 dive support construction vessel ANDY WARHOL with Wu Chang Shipbuilding Industry Group Co., China.
"Ultra Deep Solutions goal is to build up to 25 subsea construction vessels by 2018-2019," said the firm at the time. "The downturn in the market has given us the opportunity to look for greater pricing to create a new opportunity for us."
The vessels will be equipped with ABB’s OCTOPUS software that uses sensors and the Internet of Things, Services and People (IoTSP) to interpret weather conditions, allowing the crew to make informed decisions during sensitive operations.
The ships will be built for Ultra Deep Solutions at CSIC Huangpu Wuchang Shipbuilding Company Limited and China Merchants Heavy Industry.
The largest vessel’s apparatus will include two remotely operated underwater vessels (ROVs), that will dive up to 3000 meters, and a 400 ton crane that can drop 5200 meters. It will measure 142 meters in length.
The OCTOPUS suite of products is a powerful tool that provides onboard decision support and operational advice during weather-sensitive offshore operations by monitoring and forecasting vessel motions. When working in deep-water without mooring or anchoring lines, an important part of the set-up is the OCTOPUS-Operational forecast function. This extension within OCTOPUS makes it possible to define an optimal operational window during weather sensitive operations on DP.
Juha Koskela, Managing Director of ABB’s Marine and Ports business, said, “The broad scope of supply we have on these vessels is a demonstration of the wide range of solutions we have to offer the maritime sector. These vessels will benefit from some of the most established software and hardware technologies in the shipping industry.”
The vessels also will feature ABB generators, motors, drives and switchboards.
Jithu Sukumaran Nair, General Manager of Shipbuilding at Ultradeep Solutions said: “We are proud to be the first offshore vessel operator in the world to install the OCTOPUS weather monitoring system on board high tech dive vessels.”
The DP2 DSCV ANDY WARHOL is designed according to the class notation “Clean Design” and SPS Code and high focus is given to low fuel consumption, which reduces emission to the environment. The vessel will be equipped with Flash Tekk 18 man single bell Saturation system operating at 300m, a 150-tonne AHC crane with a single fall of 3000m, fitted with a WROV and an OBS ROV and it can accommodate up to 120 personnel.
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