Aker makes deep investment

has signed a letter of intent with

to expand its subsea service by providing equipment and personnel to the world’s first deepwater Subsea Equipment Support Vessel (SESV).

The SESV, which will be capable of operating in depths of up to 2,000m, will provide services usually performed by deepwater drilling rigs. It can handle, test, retrieve and install subsea trees and provides up to 80 per cent in time savings on conventional rig-based operations.

The $60m contract will run over five years and includes the development of specially designed installation equipment for subsea trees as well as support tools for subsea interventions.

Aker Oilfield has already entered a contract with Petrobras, Brazil’s national oil company, to supply and operate a SESV.

‘We will now be able to support quicker and more cost effective installations of subsea trees,’ said Raymond Carlson, vice president of Aker Kvaerner Subsea. ‘Time savings on maintenance operations is another benefit.’

Installation and testing will be performed by an offshore team from Aker Kvaerner Subsea in Brazil with onshore support provided from the Rio das Ostras base.