Mexico comeback for MDL cable layer

MDL cable-lay spread has made a return to Mexico to support a shallow-water installation off the country’s shores.

Deployed on board an Offshore Support Vessel, the portable spread consisted of the MDL TTS-2/140 Series Tensioner, Generation 3 Reel Drive System and 3.5m hinged overboarding chute. It was operated my MDL’s field service team to install over 33km of electric cables, ranging between 33kv and 4.16kv, from 3 reels.

The scope was part of a field redevelopment plan which is estimated to boost production to 1 billion boe.

MDL’s 2-track tensioner was previously deployed in the same field back in 2019 to install a 25mm OD fibre optic cable from the locally-available pipelayer Sapura 3000. This was a first of its kind scope in Mexico, where a modular spread on a vessel of opportunity was used instead of a dedicated cable layer.

Other track record of this system includes installation of rigid pipeline in California’s protected marshes on board a barge; recovery of 4” steel pipe from a decommissioned North Sea field off an anchor handler; and a variety of global SURF installation scopes.

The Generation 3 Reel Drive System has been used worldwide to convert a wide range of “bare back” vessels to deploy and retrieve synthetic mooring lines, coiled tubing and SURF. It has been particularly popular in West Africa and Brazil where access to specialist construction vessels is limited for shorter or isolated scopes.

Scott Stewart, Project Manager at MDL said:

“It’s always a good feeling to return to a location where you have had success previously. The 2019 project is remembered fondly in MDL, because it demonstrated what can be achieved with out-of-the-box thinking combined with our versatile technology.

“Returning to Mexico brings that point home: the same tensioner deployed then was now used on a different vessel again, alongside another unique MDL system – the Generation 3 RDS. Together they form a super- capable yet compact spread for cable lay, with cross-sector application. And, as proven here, not limited to any geography either.”