First Subsea Announces Latest Diverless Bend Stiffener Connector at Offshore Europe 09

03 July 2009

Subsea mooring connector specialist, First Subsea Ltd is announcing its latest diverless bend stiffener connector (DBSC) development at Offshore Europe. The compact Type 2 DBSC connector is designed to enable connection of flexible risers and umbilicals in space constrained locations.

First Subsea DBSCs are fully self latching without the need for diver intervention, hydraulics or any form of external control, and with minimal ROV intervention for visual checks. This allows operators to perform faster and safer installations of risers and umbilicals.

Developed in collaboration with Trelleborg CRP, the DBSCs can be used either with existing platform's I / J tubes with or without bellmouths, using the male connector only, or as a complete male / female unit, the Type 2. The DBSC design has been proven through a series of fatigue tests, witnessed by third-party Det Norske Veritas (DNV) consultation.

Innovative Buoy Pull-in Tool

The First Subsea stand will also feature the innovative Ballgrab buoy pull-in tool. This connector is designed for a dynamically positioned FPSO, where a Submersed Turret Production (STP) buoy has no mooring lines per se, and its risers are the only connection to the seabed. The buoy is retrieved into the FPSO using the Ballgrab pull-in tool which is lowered to connect to a female receptacle at the top of the STP buoy, and winched into the FPSO's moonpool.