Mooring System Inspection Philosophy
Permanently installed, long term moorings have been used in the offshore industry for a relatively short period of time when compared against their history of usage with mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs).
Welaptega Marine is a world leader in underwater inspection technologies, specialising in risk management for offshore installations. Welaptega's innovative technologies allow operators to evaluate the integrity of their underwater assets and make informed engineering decisions regarding operational safety.
Welaptega Marine is a world leader in underwater inspection technologies, specialising in risk management for offshore installations. Welaptega’s innovative technologies allow operators to evaluate the integrity of their underwater assets and make informed engineering decisions regarding operational safety.
Welaptega specialises in both rapid response to underwater damage events, and in integrity verification through regular inspection of moorings, risers, and pipelines. Technology includes:
Underwater HD3DV and 3DM technologies provide state-of-the-art visualisation of underwater assets on offshore instillations
Welaptega’s HD 3DV camera system is deployed by ROV to capture high-definition 3D video footage of subsea components. Video can be viewed in 3D in real-time during inspections and ROV operations. Video can also be reviewed ‘on the beach’ following an offshore operation. High quality 3D allows operators to identify damage such as gouges and pitting.
Stereoscopic video provides ROV operators with greater spatial perception for real-time manipulator work, allowing tasks to be completed more quickly and with greater precision.
Welaptega’s HD3DV system is rated for subsea deployment to 3000m.
3DModelling uses advanced photogrammetric techniques to generate geometrically accurate 3D models of components from 2D digital still images. Corresponding pixels are identified between overlapping photos, and geometry is calculated through a series of iterations based on the pixel’s relative positions. 3D models are scaled with respect to the known offset between cameras or an object of known dimensions placed on the component.
Resulting 3D models represent component geometry with accuracy typically within 1mm, and can be measured to quantify critical dimensions such as ovality, alignment between planar surfaces, cross-sectional areas, and gouge depths, widths, and heights. 3D models can also be exported in formats compatible with finite element method software packages for stress / strain analysis.
If a repair is required, the 3D model can be exported to industry-standard computer-aided design (CAD) packages so that a custom design can be created to fit the damaged geometry.
Resulting models can also be 3D printed to produce prototypes, mock-ups for subsea workscope operations planning, or for display purposes.
Welaptega’s chain measurement system (CMS) is an ROV-deployed optical calliper that measures the link intergrip diameters of in-service subsea mooring chain. Welaptega provides operators with measurements that indicate how much material loss has occurred due to deterioration, such as corrosion or wear. Results are compared to industry standards and classification society inspection rules and industry guidelines.
Advantages of using Welaptega’s CMS for mooring inspection include:
Welaptega’s rope measurement system (RMS) is a unique method for monitoring in-service condition of fibre or wire rope moorings.
It is deployed by work class ROV to survey the in-service condition of fibre and wire rope moorings. Comprising a built-in cleaning system and a hydraulic sled equipped with video cameras, the RMS is towed along a rope to remove marine growth and capture video from four directions.
The video data is then processed to detect changes in the cross-sectional geometry over the length included in the survey. These measurements indicate potential rope deterioration, which could lead to mooring line failure.
Permanently installed, long term moorings have been used in the offshore industry for a relatively short period of time when compared against their history of usage with mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs).
Subsea 3D Model of Damaged Wellhead
In-Service Mooring Inspection for Mobile Drilling Units
The life of the White Rose field is expected to be extended through the development of the West White Rose satellite field.
The Na Kika field extends over Missisipi Canyon blocks 474, 429, 657, 607, 522, 520, 383 at a water depth of 6,000ft in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 225km south-east of New Orleans, Louisiana, US.
Elgin and Franklin lie 93m deep in the water the UK North Sea's Central Graben, approximately 240km east of Aberdeen.
Discovered in February 2003, the Stybarrow oil field is located in licence block number WA-32-L in the Exmouth sub-basin
Tordis is located in block 34/7 of the Tampen area in the Norwegian North Sea. It came on-stream in 1994. In addition to
The Mad Dog field is located in Western Atwater Foldbelt, Gulf of Mexico, approximately 190 miles south of New Orleans,
The Alvheim field lies on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, west of Heimdal, in production licence PL 203.
The Kristin field is located in the south-west part of the Halten Bank in the Norwegian Sea.
The Snorre field lies in blocks 34 / 4 and 34 / 7, approximately 200km west of Floro in the Norwegian North Sea.
The Malampaya field is located 80km off the coast of Palawan Island, in the Republic of the Philippines.
The Terra Nova field is located 350km east-south-east (ESE) of St John's Newfoundland and 35km south-east of Hibernia.
The Njord field is situated on Haltenbanken, in blocks 6407/7 and 6407/10, 130km north of Kristiansund and 30km west of the Draugen field.
Hydrocarbons in the Norne field are located in the Lower to Middle Jurassic sandstones, which are of a good reservoir quality.
The Jotun field is located on the Utsira High, between the Balder and Heimdal fields, approximately 200km west of Stavanger, Norway.
Troll is primarily a gas field, one of the biggest in the North Sea, holding 60% of Norway’s gas reserves.
Visund was developed using a semi-submersible steel drilling, production and quarters platform, connected to a subsea completion system.
Alba is located in block 16 / 26, 130 miles north-east of Aberdeen. The field lies in a water depth of approximately 138
The Åsgard oilfield lies on the Haltenbank in the Norwegian Sea, 200km from Norway and 50km south of Statoil's Heidrun field.
Balder is located in blocks 25 / 10 and 25 / 11, 165km west of Haugesund, in a water depth of 125m. The field was discovered in 1967, but it was only during the appraisal drilling in 1974 that the major part of the field was discovered.
Captain has undergone a huge Phase II expansion which has increased the 60,000 barrels per day rate to an average platea
The Foinaven oilfield is located in blocks 204 / 19 and 204 / 24a, which are operated by BP Exploration. Shell UK Explor
Laminaria / Corallina is located in the Timor Sea, 550km north-west of Darwin.
Schiehallion was discovered in 1993, with the semi-submersible drilling rig Ocean Alliance, whilst it was exploring the
Welaptega Marine, world leader in moorings fitness for purpose assessments (MFPA), is attending the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston this week to deliver a paper on life extension of mooring systems on offshore floating production facilities.
8 May 2013Welaptega Marine, world leader in mooring inspection and fitness-for-purpose evaluations, is pleased to announce that the Beijing Safetech Pipeline Company has been appointed as its exclusive sales and operational agent for China.
20 December 2012Welaptega Marine, world leader in mooring integrity verification, is pleased to announce that it has formed an alliance with UK engineering firm BPP-TECH to offer the highest-quality fitness for purpose evaluations for offshore mooring systems.
4 December 2012Welaptega Marine, a world leader in mooring integrity verification, has been awarded a contract to inspect riser moorings on the high-profile Petrobras Cascade Chinook development in the Gulf of Mexico.
9 November 2012Failures of mooring systems in offshore floating production are not easy to predict, but they do occur, and they will happen more often as infrastructure nears the end of design life.
30 October 2012Tony Hall, CEO of Welaptega Marine, will be a featured speaker at a seminar of asset integrity experts examining the impact of aging infrastructure in the offshore oil and gas sector.
23 October 2012A new sense of urgency is emerging around ageing offshore infrastructure as facilities reach the end of their design lives and major incidents cost millions - in some cases billions, a group of integrity management experts heard during a Petronas seminar titled Managing Risk on Ageing Offshore Infrastructure.
18 October 2012Welaptega Marine, world leader in risk-based mooring integrity verification, has been invited to make a guest presentation Wednesday, 17 October at the Petronas Caigali seminar on managing risk on aging offshore assets. The seminar is being held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
16 October 2012Welaptega Marine, world leader in mooring integrity verification, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract to inspect the mooring systems on the Anasuria floating, production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) in the UK North Sea.
2 October 2012Welaptega Marine has completed a first with its in-water baseline survey on the mooring system of BP's Skarv floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel in the northern North Sea, Norway.
2 October 2012Welaptega Marine, world leader in mooring integrity verification, will join FPSO experts from around the world this week at the Emerging FPSO Forum in Galveston, Texas, to discuss unexpected problems discovered during subsea surveys.
25 September 2012Offshore assets often get damaged: they get bent, dented, dropped or even broken. These common offshore impacts cost operators millions in repairs, downtime, lost production and they jeopardise operational safety.
21 September 2012Hurricane Isaac has caused an estimated $500m to $1bn in damages to the offshore energy sector in the Gulf of Mexico.
5 September 2012Welaptega Marine, world leader in solving complex underwater problems, is launching an intelligent imaging solution to detect and measure deterioration of wire rope moorings of FPSOs.
2 July 2012Welaptega Marine, a world-leader in underwater inspection on offshore installations, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a patent, by the US Patent and Trademark Office, for its Rope Measurement System (RMS).
22 May 2012Welaptega Marine, a world leader in subsea inspection technology in the oil and gas sector, will present two peer-reviewed technical papers at OTC 2012 this week.
30 April 2012Welaptega Marine is set to attend the 2012 Offshore Technology Conference, which takes place between 30 April and May 3 2012 at the Reliant Center in Houston, Texas, US.
18 April 2012One year ago today, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico, leading to the worst environmental disaster in US history. It took lives – 11 workers died. 4.9 million barrels of oil leaked from the BP Macondo well, causing extensive damage
19 April 2011This comment by Welaptega founder and CEO Anthony Hall is a response to a Wall Street Journal story carried on the US President's report on the Macondo spill. "Do not forget the lives lost in this incident. Do not forget that in pursuit of the petroleum that fuels our societies many tho
5 January 2011Welaptega Marine, world leader and exclusive supplier of in-water mooring inspection and subsea 3D in the offshore oil and gas industry, has been selected by the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) Houston to present a paper on a pioneering technology for recertifying moorings on mobile drill ri
3 May 2010Following successful collaboration with a Houston-based drilling organisation, Welaptega Marine now provides the ability for MODU operators to fulfil compliance driven and post hurricane inspections at sea, while the MODU is working, or as part of a scheduled rig move. Download this
18 February 2010Welaptega Marine has saved a Gulf-of-Mexico-based offshore driller millions of dollars through a pioneering technology to re-certify mooring systems on semi-submersible drill rigs (MODUs) while they are on station. It is estimated that the driller saved $10m in maintenance costs on one
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