Separating Man from Machine
19 October 2012
Subsea hot taps make possible a range of pipeline activities, including repair work, new section tie-ins, insertion of instrumentation, injection of chemicals, and creation of entry points for temporary isolation tools. In the most basic terms, hot tapping is the process of drilling a hole into a live (active) pipeline while keeping the line in production and all contents contained. Subsea hot tap operations are conducted with the assistance of a diving support vessel (DSV) to transport the necessary equipment and divers to the site. Because of the unique environmental challenges and logistics, substantially more equipment and personnel are required for a subsea pipeline intervention offshore than for a comparable intervention onshore.>> more
