Deepwater innovations
In the future, people will have to deal more with deepwater technologies as core hydrocarbon reserves are located in the sea. Besides, pipelines and communications tend to run along the seabed to bypass transit countries. New challenges require the development of technologies which are sometimes more sophisticated than space technologies.
Nord Stream: no repair for half a century
North Stream pipeline for supply of Russian gas to Western Europe bypassing the transit countries under the Baltic Sea is most welcome now in view of Ukrainian events.
As Sergey Serdyukov, Technical Director of Nord Stream AG, said at the international conference SubSeaTECH 2014 in Saint-Petersburg State Maritime University, maintenance-free service life of the pipeline is 50 years. The gas pipeline can also stand the blows of anchors and hulls of vessels. However, 200,000 DWT vessels are a potential threat to Nord Stream pipeline anchors and the force of such vessels are comparable to the strength margin of the pipeline. Besides, a threat of an intended damage for terroristic purposes should be also kept in mind. In such cases, unscheduled repair will be executed by using pistons cutting off a damaged section.
Dragon peering at the depths
Focused on the repair of subsea facilities, China is developing a manned submersible able to submerge up to 1 km deep and manoeuvre at the depth of up to 200 m. It is a sort of a submarine able to accommodate up to 12 persons and to bear other remotely operated underwater equipment. According to Zhenping Weng, director of China Ship Scientific Research Center, a prototype model has already been created and is being tested now.
It should be noted that creation of submersibles has become a strong point of China’s industry. Unmanned bathyscaph able to be lowered up to 4,500 m underwent final tests in April 2014. A submersible able to operate at the depth of 6,000 is under development today. In 2012, China's bathyscaph Czyaolun was lowered on depth of 7,000 m in Mariana Trench.
Shelf is ours with your technologies
As it is well known, the Arctic has recently become a scene of rivalry for different countries including those having no borders with it. Major rivals here, as before, are Russia and the U.S.
Meanwhile, the borders of Russia's continental shelf are determined with the application of the U.S. technologies which are actually double-purpose technologies. According to Sergey Alexeev, Director General of the State Scientific Research Institute of Navigation and Hydrography, who is involved in determining of Russia’s continental shelf limits and also participated in SubSeaTECH 2014, there were no organizations in Russia ready to embark on the project on determining the limits of the Arctic shelf bottom. The task was to examine thousands of kilometers while no technology allowing for executing this work within reasonable period of time and with adequate labor input was not available.
However, such a technology had been developed by a U.S. company. It turned to be very simple. Instead of towing equipment behind a vessel under a permanent threat of ice, the American technology suggests that it could be submerged 100 meters deep directly behind the keel, which is an ice-free zone. U.S. authorities did not allow providing of the technology to Russia since it is the depth where submarines can be detected. Yet, the decision was found: 30 meters was enough for operation.
As for the shelf development, the industry experts believe that future production platforms will be automatically operated under the sea level. It reduces the impact of ice conditions and decreases operational expenses. Read more about the prospects of subsea platforms in the interview with Oleg Timofeev, Deputy Director General of Krylov State Research Center >>>>
The industry experts also agree that international cooperation is essential here: none of the countries is able to develop subsea projects as the creation of necessary equipment requires experience, competence and facilities of all leading states.
Vitaly Chernov