Global contractor, i-Tech, part of Subsea 7 announced today that it has placed a significant order for new build deepwater work class vehicles, which will be supplied with advanced, light weight, high performance handling systems. The systems, to be named Centurion Qx, have been specifically designed and built for i-Tech and its target market. The 125hp Centurion Qx will be rated to operate at water depths up to 2,000m as standard with options to upgrade to 3,000m and beyond.
The systems will be built by SMD Hydrovision (SMDH) at their Turbinia works on the River Tyne in Newcastle, UK. The Centurion Qx is an evolution of the successful Subsea 7 designed and built Centurion work class series. The new Centurion Qx will incorporate a number of key components used on SMDH’s proven Q-Series range of ROV’s including DVECS distributed control and the latest generation Curvetech thrusters.
i-Tech has embarked on this build program as it is confident of securing, in the short term, commitments for a number of these new build ROV systems, with deployment anticipated to be in deepwater regions including West Africa, North and Latin America. This deployment would further consolidate i-Tech’s position as a global ROV and intervention provider to the offshore E&P sector.
i-Tech’s Managing Director, Neil Milne, commented, “We are delighted to be able to announce this major build program within five months of i-Tech’s formation. This substantial investment clearly demonstrates the commitment of the Subsea 7 Board in relation to both i-Tech and its customers. We intend to add more systems to our fleet as opportunities arise”.
Ends 30th May 2006
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Subsea 7 Public Relations:
Pat Stephen Tel: +44 1224 344508 or +44 7712 427608
E-mail: pat.stephen@subsea7.com
Notes to editors:
With a workforce in excess of 3700 people worldwide, Subsea 7 is one of the world’s leading subsea engineering and construction contractors. The company’s global offshore operations are supported out of Asia Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, Norway, UK and West Africa. Subsea 7 has more than 100 remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), five pipeline construction yards and a fleet of modern, high specification dynamically positioned ships capable of deepwater reeled and flexible pipelay, deepwater subsea construction and saturation diving. www.subsea7.com
Subsea 7’s shares trade on the Oslo Stock Exchange (www.ose.no): Ticker Code SUB.
SMD Hydrovision has been manufacturing high quality underwater remotely operated systems and associated deck handling equipment for over 30 years. In addition to ROV systems, SMDH is world renowned for seabed intervention systems such as cable and pipeline, ploughs and trenchers designed for sustained operation in the harshest environments. www.smdhydrovision.com
