Subsea Expo 2016: MDL powers up flex-lay costs reduction

At this year’s Subsea Expo exhibition, MDL will be demonstrating how its equipment directly reduces vessel costs during flex-lay campaigns.

The company’s unique portable vertical lay system (PVLS), which has recently completed a North Sea riser installation project for a major contractor along with the latest third-generation reel drive system (RDS), will be the talking point on the company’s stand and staff will be on hand to discuss learnings from the campaign and savings achieved though the use of the technology.

The key focus of these discussions will be reducing vessel days in offshore operations, achieved with the MDL equipment. On top of their improved functionality while operational, the MDL systems can be road-transported around the world to meet product reels in their home ports, reducing associated transit costs.

To stimulate conversation by getting close and personal with the equipment that took part in the first PVLS mission, the company will be bringing onto the stand a control unit, which was used to operate the patented MDL tensioner in vertical mode and coordinate it with other integrated systems sharing the tower’s footprint and power supply.

Derek Smith, CEO of MDL, said:

“In the current climate there is a huge appetite for savings in offshore operations. These savings are readily available, if you shop smart.

“That means looking at the actual value of a specific piece of equipment or suite of equipment, along with the price tag, to fully understand the benefits of utilising a particular system.

“Solutions such as the MDL portable spread can be used on multiple projects throughout the equipment’s lifespan, and are not tied to a single vessel or one geographical area, opening the
pool of offshore opportunities available to the equipment user.

“Also, the integration of systems within the spread has proven to significantly reduce mission time and vessel mobilisation time, leaving the operator with more money in their pocket after every campaign where the spread has been deployed, without compromising on efficiency or safety.”