Review of Cabling Techniques and Environmental Effects Applicable
Review of Cabling Techniques and Environmental Effects Applicable
Review of Cabling Techniques and Environmental Effects Applicable
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<strong>Review</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Cabling</strong> <strong>Techniques</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Environmental</strong> <strong>Effects</strong> <strong>Applicable</strong> to the Offshore Wind<br />
Farm Industry – Technical Report<br />
Figure 3.19: LBT1 being deployed at the North Hoyle Offshore Wind<br />
Farm Site<br />
Previous Table 3.11 lists a selection <strong>of</strong> Tracked Cable Burial Machines, noting the<br />
various burial systems available for each machine together with corresponding<br />
details <strong>of</strong> burial capability.<br />
3.8.4 FREE SWIMMING CABLE BURIAL MACHINES<br />
A Free Swimming Burial ROV uses thrusters for propulsion <strong>and</strong> manoeuvrability<br />
<strong>and</strong> is equipped with a work package or work skid for intervention tasks or cable<br />
burial operations. All <strong>of</strong> the ROVs in use today are unmanned; however some<br />
<strong>of</strong> the early free swimming vehicles were manned. These vehicles are now<br />
consigned to museum exhibits.<br />
The early free swimming burial machines were manned autonomous vehicles<br />
with very limited power budgets for burial operations. The early Pieces vehicles,<br />
as they were called, were generally deployed on repair <strong>and</strong> maintenance duties<br />
<strong>and</strong> would spend extended periods trying to shallow bury exposed sections <strong>of</strong><br />
subsea telecoms cable into the seabed. However, after a near fatal incident on<br />
an early CANTAT cable which ultimately resulted in a successful full scale rescue<br />
<strong>of</strong> a str<strong>and</strong>ed Pieces vehicle, the industry looked to remotely controlled vehicles<br />
for the next generation <strong>of</strong> cable intervention.<br />
The first generation Free Swimming Burial ROVs were dedicated for repair <strong>and</strong><br />
maintenance activities to assist in the repair <strong>of</strong> damaged sections <strong>of</strong> cable <strong>and</strong><br />
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