SPT Geotechnical operations on Jack-Up Barge E.T. Lift 5, Singapore, January 2023.
Bifrost Cable System. Acquisition to design appropriate Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) methodology to land major international internet cable system at Tuas, Singapore. Boreholes to 30m below seabed (SPT and Mezier rotary drilling). Colin Poat engaged as Purchasers’ Representative to oversee operations.
Setting up for geotechnical operations off Jack-Up Barge E.T. Lift 5, Singapore, January 2023, Bifrost Cable System.
_______________________________________________________________
M/V Fugro Gargano; WISON/WIP Geotechnical Programme for Energinet Energy Island Project.
Drilling/Sampling to 70m below seabed, Denmark May – June 2022.
CP Geo-Services Ltd. provided Colin Poat as Offshore Client Representative.
_______________________________________________________________
GEO GeoThor S-Wave Seismic Hammer for Seismic Cone Penetration Test (SCPT) operations.
Energinet Thor Windfarm Development Project, Denmark, May 2020.
GEO GeoScope CPT system (250 kN), Energinet Thor Windfarm Development Project, Denmark, May 2020.
GEO GeoScope CPT system (250 kN), Energinet Thor Windfarm Development Project, Denmark, May 2020.
GEO GeoScope CPT system (250 kN), Energinet Thor Windfarm Development Project, Denmark, May 2020. M/V Wilson Adriatic.
_______________________________________________________________
Low Pressure Authigenic gas release from seabed (natural seepage), Northern North Sea, April 2019.
Methane Derived Authigenic Carbonate (MDAC) concretions discovered in Northern North Sea (Arran Field Development), M/V Kommandor, Shell UK Ltd, April 2019.
_______________________________________________________________
Back deck view of M/V Fugro Adventurer during Deep Geotechnics operations.
WISON pCPT/WIP push sampling and FMCB rotary coring drilling derrick.
Very tall and very deep drilling/sampling/testing capability.
Onboard Geotechnical Laboratory – analysis of cores and pCPTs underway.
M/V Fugro Adventurer, NF-18 Deep Geotechnics Programme, January 2019.
Colin Poat was Offshore Representative for Qatar Shell Service W.L.L. supervising operations – sub seabed sampling for proposed Appraisal Well placement and foundation studies.
______________________________________________________________
Seabed Photograph, Environmental Baseline Study, North Field, Qatar, September 2018.
Biocrete/Calcrete with symbiotic megafauna associated with low pressure biogenic gas-related pockmark development. Laser dots 20cm spacing; SeaSpyder imagery.
_______________________________________________________________
Cygnus Alpha Platform, southern North Sea, May 2018 (Pegasus Pipeline Route Survey operations).
_______________________________________________________________
Vibrocore operations, Pegasus Pipeline Route Survey, May 2018.
Seabed imagery for Environmental Baseline Survey (EBS) assessment, Pegasus Pipeline Route Survey, May 2018.
CP Geo-Services Ltd provided Colin Poat as an Offshore Client Representative supervising hydrographic, geophysical, geotechnical and environmental baseline survey operations for Spirit Energy (formerly Centrica) in the southern North Sea in April and May 2018. Vessel MV Ocean Reliance. Contractor Gardline Limited; Client RPS Energy/Spirit Energy.
_______________________________________________________________
Inelfe BGW HVDC Cable Project, Geotechnical Survey Operations, Bay of Biscay – France to Spain.
Rock Drilling using MDS 600 Drilling System, June-July 2017.
CP Geo-Services Ltd provided Colin Poat as an Offshore Client Representative supervising Vibrocore, Thermal Resistivity testing, pCPT and Rock Drilling operations to assist in geophysical interpretation of a comprehensive 2016 hydrographic and geophysical data set and to provide technical data for engineering and cable burial assessment studies. Vessel M/V Olympic Delta on charter to MMT Sweden; Client Red Penguin Associates Ltd for Inelfe.
_____________________________________________________________
Late March through to early June 2017 saw CP Geo-Services Ltd providing Lead QC Offshore Client Representative services (Mr Colin Poat) to ExxonMobil, supervising 2D UHR and analogue survey operations for the planned Ca Voi Xanh (Blue Whale) Pipeline and Platform Development Project in Vietnam. High resolution Multibeam Echo Sounder imagery revealed a rocky seabed (see below) with pillow lava extrusions – Colin called them ‘The Rose Garden’ and the name has stuck as a general descriptive geomorphological term; the pillow lavas had a high magnetic signature. Elsewhere on the continental shelf considerable degassing features were observed.
‘The Rose Garden’, June 2017. Each ‘rose’ is about 100m diameter with c.2m relative relief, general water depth 95m.
I’ll never complain again; this gentlemen off the Vietnamese coastline as a ‘Chick’ to a ‘Mother Hen’ – slightly larger mother ship close by; seine net fishing, day in day out; sea waves approximately 1.5 metres on this day.
_______________________________________________________________
January 2017 saw CP Geo-Services Ltd providing an Offshore Representative supervising rock placement by the DPFV Rockpiper over a Client’s existing in-service HVAC cable in the Irish Sea – as part of Walney Wind Farm Extension Operations.
Dynamic Positioned Fall Pipe Vessel (DPFV) Rockpiper.
DPFV Rockpiper Separation Layer rock placement layer over existing in-service Walney 2 HVAC Cable.
DPFV Rockpiper – Forward Hopper filled with 8000 Te 63mm to 180mm grade rock from Norway – for protection placement.
Fall Pipe ROTV assembly with MBES transducers.
Rock conveyed into vertical Fall Pipe to seabed.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Just occasionally – very occasionally – working the night shift has its moments!
Pyrannean Seascape at Dawn, M/V Franklin, Bay of Biscay, November 2016.
Capbreton Canyon, Multibeam Bathymetry Cross Section.
Capbreton Canyon – Isometric View, looking East to West.
Multibeam Sonar (MBES) and Sidescan Sonar Records of Wrecks, Bay of Biscay, 2016.
Sad to find these; the wrecks were treated respectfully as loss of life seems a distinct possibility. The wrecks were uncharted and unknown.
Focus2 ROTV (MBES, SSS, SBP) preparation for HVDC survey operations.
TVG Magnetometer assembly for HVDC survey operations.
M/V Franklin (Library Picture, MMT Specification Sheet).
M/V Franklin, Surface Tow Sparker Sub-Bottom Profiler Data Example.
INELFE Biscay Gulf Western Interconnector HVDC Cable Project 2016.
CP Geo-Services Ltd engaged to provide a Client Representative supervising survey operations, M/V Franklin, Client, Red Penguin Associates Ltd for INELFE, France and Spain, September and October 2016.
_______________________________________________________________
Deploying an ADCP frame for continued Met-Ocean studies.
Small Survey Boat (SSB) as used during ENL SIIS 2016 Operations.
Mr Colin Poat (left) Lead Technical QC with Captain Terry Skews (HSE Representative), onboard M/V Ivan Kireev, De-Kastri, June 2016.
An octopus retrieved from an ADCP frame where it had made home since April
(it was returned on re-deployment of the ADCP frame).
‘Magic Circle’ revealed in high resolution multibeam bathymetry (400 kHz) data – any ideas?
Sidescan Sonar imagery (900 kHz) of Single Point Mooring structure and incoming 48″ Export Pipeline.
Multibeam bathymetry (400 kHz) Point Cloud of Single Point Mooring structure and incoming 48″ Export Pipeline.
ENL Subsea Infrastructure Inspection Survey Programme, 2016.
CP Geo-Services Ltd engaged to provide a Client Representative supervising survey and inspection operations, M/V Ivan Kireev. Client, Exxon Neftegas Limited/Geocon Neftegas Services Limited, Russian Federation, May to June 2016.
______________________________________________________________
Power Cable Plough (PCP2) onboard AHST Go Pegasus, 2015.
Cable lay vessel C/S Giulio Verne, 2015.
AHST Go Pegasus, 2015.
Western Link HVDC Cable Project. CP Geo-Services Ltd engaged to provide a Client Representative supervising route clearance, PLGR and cable burial installation, Irish Sea; vessel AHST GO Pegasus. Contractor Prysmian PowerLink/DeepOcean.
Client, Western Link (National Grid/ScottishPower Transmission)/Red Penguin Associates Ltd, February 2016.
_______________________________________________________________
ADCP deployment R/V Ivan Kireev.
Ice Field on approach to De-Kastri.
CTD with Turbidity and Oxygen sensors.
De-Kastri Metocean Instrumentation Installation Programme. Exxon Neftegas Ltd, Russian Far East LNG Development. CP Geo-Services Ltd engaged to provided the Lead QC/Client Representative/HSE Representative supervising seabed installation of ADCPs and Ice Profiling Sonar arrays; water sampling and oceanographic profiling. Contractor Romona Inc.; vessel R/V Ivan Kireev.
Client, Exxon Neftegas Limited/Geocon Neftegas Services Limited. Russian Federation, November to December 2015.
_____________________________________________________________
Orlan Platform, Sakhalin Island.
Placing protective concrete blocks on the seabed close to Orlan.
FPV Jospeh Plateau (usually a rock placement vessel).
Typical concrete blocks used as protection.
Orlan Berm Protection Project. CP Geo-Services Ltd engaged to provide an Offshore Client Representative supervising block placement and ROV based block chaining operations, Orlan Platform, Sakhalin Island, Russian Federation. Contractor Jan de Nul; vessel FPV Joseph Plateau.
Client, Exxon Neftegas Limited (ENL), October to November 2015.
_______________________________________________________________
Presented below are operational photographs taken during cable route survey operations (HVDC and Telecommunication) undertaken by CP Geo-Services showing a typical range of sensors that may be utilised to map seabed, shallow geology formations and UXO hazards:
Steerable Sidescan-Sonar with Geometrics magnetometer.
Lightweight vibrocorer.
Vibrocore samples for seabed sediment type mapping.
Surface Towed Sparker Sub-Bottom Profiler and High Frequency Airgun Cluster (4 x 4) (SSE Shetland HVDC Project).
Magnetometers arranged as a ‘Mag-Wing’ for Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) investigation.
Guernsey Electricity Ltd, Channel Islands, UK. Guernsey – Jersey No. 3 Cable System; CP Geo-Services provided a Client Representative supervising geophysical, hydrographic and UXO survey operations. Contractor, G-tec s.a.; vessel R/V Faraday.
Client, Guernsey Electricity Ltd/Pelagian Ltd, September 2014.
__________________________________________________________
A selection of cable and pipeline burial tools used on projects to which CP Geo-Services has provided Offshore Client Representation is presented below:
i-Trencher (library picture).
T750 (on site picture).
East West Interconnector Project, Ireland to North Wales. CP Geo-Services provided an Offshore Client Representative supervising HVDC cable burial using T750 jetting and i-Trencher ROVs; pre-lay, pre-trench and post-trench survey operations. Contractor, Canyon Offshore Ltd.
Vessel M/V Island Pioneer, Client, ABB AS High Voltage Cables, September – October 2011.
Mass Flow Excavation tool T8000.
BritNed Interconnector HVDC Cable System, UK/NL CS. CP Geo-Services provided an Offshore Client Representative during Mass Flow Excavation cable burial operations onboard M/V Olympic Zeus and M/V Stril Explorer. Contractor MMT/Rotech.
Client, ABB AS, January – June 2011.
CT2 Jetting Trencher.
EIG cable system, UKCS. CP Geo-Services provided an Offshore Purchasers’ Representative onboard C/S Interceptor. Post Lay Burial and Inspection using Modus CT2 ROV. Responsible for overseeing system supplier and sub-contractor in cable burial operations, July 2009, Clients, EIG Consortium (Cable&Wireless, BT, Verizon Business).
SMD PL2 Multipass Pipeline Plough.
BBL/Gasunie Pipeline, Netherlands to UK, pipeline burial operations (ploughing with Saipem’s PL2 on vessel Far Soverign). CP Geo-Services provided an Offshore BBL Representative. Responsible for burial depth and pipeline loading QC and contractor supervision, September – October 2006, Clients, BBL/Gasunie consortium/TeleSecure Ltd.
_____________________________________________________________
Recommended Marine Conservation Zone survey operations, Lot 2 – Whitsand Bay to Looe Bay, South Coast, Cornwall, UK. CP Geo-Services engaged to provide an Offshore Client Representative during EM3002 multibeam echo sounder bathymetry and acoustic backscatter operations for habitat delineation and classification. Contractor – Titan Environmental Surveys, vessels – M/V Titan Endeavour and Explorer
Client Cefas/Defra, Lowestoft, UK/Hydro Projects, January-March 2013.
________________________________________________________
BritNed HVDC, Isle of Grain, United Kingdom. Burial of cable bundle using a shallow water barge and excavator, summer 2010.
CP Geo-Services engaged to provide an Offshore Client Representative and Routing Engineer for ABB.
____________________________________________________________
Witnessing cable loading, EIG Project, Malta 2010, C/S Île de Bréhat.
CP Geo-Services engaged to provide a Purchasers’ Representative for Verizon/Europe India Gateway Project.
___________________________________________________________
CP Geo-Services engaged to provide an Offshore Client Representative during offshore geotechnical works (PCPTs and deep boreholes) for artificial island construction and protection, Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan. Responsible for geo-survey QC/QA and contractor appraisal.
September – October 2003, Client, AGIP KCO (Kazakhstan).