Seaflex Limted - Marine Buoyancy Products and Water Filled Test Weights

Seaflex are well known for their standard range of marine buoyancy products and water filled test weights. These include parachute lifting bags, pontoon lifting bags, lifeboat testing bags, lifeboat ballast bags, lifeboat ballast water bags and air lifting balloons. Seaflex is a BS EN ISO 9001:2000 company, independently certified by Lloyds Register Quality Assurance. Seaflex products comply with current EC regulations and are supported by regional agents in many commercial centres around the world.

SEAFLEX AIR LIFT BAGS (ALBS)

The Seaflex standard range of open bottom airlift bags for support and lift loads from any depth. While their single point attachment is ideal for lightening underwater structures such as pipes and templates, their main application is for lifting vessels and other loads from the seabed to the surface.

SEAFLEX INFLATABLE BUOYANCY UNITS (IBUS)

The standard range of inflatable buoyancy units are used for supporting static loads in shallow water and on the surface. While good for vessel draft reduction and lightening underwater structures, their main application is for installation buoyancy on pipeline beach pulls and river crossings.

SEAFLEX WATERLOAD™ WATER FILLED BALLAST BAGS (WLBS)

Seaflex WaterLoad™ test weights of 1t to 35t capacity are of the most modern design based on 15 years of manufacturing experience in heavy-duty flexible structures. All units comply with HSE SN3/88 and are constructed using procedures controlled by BS EN ISO 9000: 2001 certified by Lloyds Register QA. Each is supplied with 6:1 type test certification gained at the National Engineering Laboratory in Glasgow.

LIFEBOAT BALLAST WATER BAGS

While the lifeboat ballast water bags concept is nothing new, several innovative features have been incorporated in Seaflex WaterLoad™ to make the user's life easier. Filling is by 2½ in full bore 'fire hose' terminating in quick release couplings compatible with standard hydrants. The 20t and 35t bag invert is fitted with stainless steel female thread to accept a 3in discharge hose, which empties a 35t unit in 22mins. Similar 2in fittings on the 10t and 5t units ensure minimum discharge times.

VERSATILE FILLING DISCHARGE OF PARACHUTE LIFTING BAGS

Handling the larger units has been greatly eased by delivering them in their own dedicated storage boxes, which allows the bag to be hoisted straight out of the box for filling, and when emptied, lowered and flaked back down with minimal site handling. This reduces the manpower required, reduces site time and keeps the bags protected at all times. The intelligent design and versatile filling discharge systems have made Seaflex WaterLoad™ the first choice for increasing numbers of test houses world wide.

DEDICATED CABLE AND PIPELINE BUOYANCY SYSTEMS (SEASERPENT™ OR KRAKEN©)

Instead of using multiple floats to support a submarine cable during installation in shallow water, the SeaSerpent™ is a continuous inflatable tube attached to the cable at 1.2m spacing. While its support and control of the cable is excellent, perhaps its most advantageous characteristic is the operational flexibility it allows the installer. The easy launching procedure is followed by a progressive and controlled sinking sequence, which can be started, slowed, or reversed by simple surface control without divers.

While Seaflex are the major worldwide providers of individual inflatable buoyancy units for pipeline installations in shallow water, there are special cases where the long tube Kraken© buoyancy system can be used to greater advantage. The patented system consists of a PVC coated fabric attached to a pipe at 1.2m intervals to create a continuous buoyancy member, which produces very low stresses in the pipe. The coated fabric tube is tough and resilient and with the close spaced fixings, each attachment is only under a very small load.

Kraken's advantage over conventional IBUs is its ability to float pipes in very shallow water, which can in sometime dramatically reduce dredging costs, and it's low frontal area for long surface or mid-water tows.