V-LOCK® to Receive First Viewing at Subsea 2011

02 February 2011

Viper Subsea, the Bristol based developer of class leading controls and distribution systems and supplier of expert consultancy for the subsea oil and gas industries, will be unveiling its innovative new V-LOCK® hydraulic stab plate at the Subsea 2011 event, Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre, 9th – 10th February.

Developed following extensive consultation with first tier suppliers, end users and installation contractors, V-LOCK® has been designed to meet the demands of the subsea industry for the foreseeable future.

Viper Subsea was established in 2007 to provide turnkey subsea distribution systems and products, and to offer the market superior total management and consultancy solutions. Led by Neil Douglas and Max Nodder, Viper Subsea has established itself as one of the most talented organisations serving the subsea market and the company has enjoyed revenue growth of 40% year on year.

Speaking about the launch of V-LOCK®, Neil Douglas, Managing Director at Viper Subsea said; “The subsea oil and gas industry faces a challenging future as the pursuit of resources goes deeper and into more challenging environments. Viper Subsea exists to provide best in class solutions for the industry going forward and the V-LOCK® suite of hydraulic stab plates offers the market a future-proof solution, delivering considerable advantages over existing systems, both in terms of performance and installation.

“Crucially, the innovations built in to V-LOCK® means its performance is significantly in excess of existing products. The V-LOCK® offers market leading clamping and separation force, and the secondary release system is positively actuated with no reliance on any form of shearing mechanism. The secondary release system also incorporates means of providing a separation force, a feature unique to the V-LOCK®. Separation force is a key consideration particularly for environments prone to build up of marine growth, such as offshore Australia. V-LOCK® has also been designed with incredible make-up misalignment capability, which ensures that the V-LOCK® can be installed with vastly reduced ROV intervention times and associated installation costs. The research and development team at Viper Subsea is rightly proud of its achievements.”

V-LOCK® has undergone two years of development and extensive qualification testing and offers market leading performance in terms of installability, clamping (>30 Tonne) and separation forces (>50 Tonne) and secondary release system. Suitable for use at depths down to 4000m, V-LOCK® comes in three separate sizes, to accommodate up to 8, 14 and 28 hydraulic couplings. The plate is designed around the use of National Coupling Company’s hydraulic couplers, offering a range of coupler sizes, working pressures and seal types. As well as the basic ‘fixed’ and ‘flying’ plates, the normal range of parking positions, protective covers, test and flushing plates are offered.

The first order for V-LOCK® has already been placed. The Energy Products Division of Parker Hannifin Corporation in Stafford, Texas, has placed an order following a competitive bid process and covers the engineering, manufacture and supply of 'fixed' and 'free' V-LOCK®, test plates and corresponding marine growth protective covers. The equipment is destined for an intervention system in the Gulf of Mexico, with V-LOCK® deliveries scheduled for May 2011.

Viper Subsea will be exhibiting V-LOCK® on stand C3 at Subsea 2011.