Beneath the waves, technology edges forward

Working up to the Wheelhouse
May 28, 2013
Local company provides work to docks, industry
May 28, 2013
Working up to the Wheelhouse
May 28, 2013
Local company provides work to docks, industry
May 28, 2013

As oil companies teeter back from ground lost following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, local companies in the Tri-parish area remain on the cutting edge of technology in ways that are quite literal.


Two Houma companies – one entirely local and the other part of a multi-national oilfield service firm – have made separate marks in development of systems that can perform tasks underwater in ways once thought impossible.

In one case the focus is on tasks to be performed in shallower waters, while in another, the mission is welding without creating fire risk much further below the surface.


“This technology has been around but we refined it so much that it is a lot more advanced than it was in the early days,” said Tim Crochet, Houma operations manager for Proserve Subsea and Marine.


Proserve has become a leader in welding underwater, using a method that eliminates sparks and arcs.

Called friction welding, the technology employs high-level friction to create heat when joining two surfaces, eliminating danger in an environment where natural gas is a sought-after product.


“It can be done underwater and to any depth,” Crochet said. “We were called in by one of the largest operators in the Gulf to reinstall anodes in the bottom of one of their production facilities. It is a large drill with a piece of material chucked in the toe drill. You force it against the material. The contact and the friction generate just enough heat to where the material starts to plasticize. It’s a forging process, fusing the two metals together, say aluminum to steel. The heat is low enough to a point where there is no arc at all. There is no brittleness, and it can be done through paint.”

Subsea is also using a cutting technology that eliminates the use of explosives in deep-sea settings. One of the tasks the technology is increasingly useful for is the subsea dismantling of old drilling rigs.

“It uses high pressure, water and abrasive grit,” Crochet said.

Remotely operated vehicles – essentially undersea robots controlled by operators above the surface – can be used for both technology applications, eliminating risk to divers.

At Chet Morrison Contractors, there is cause to celebrate over what is billed an innovation in subsea cutting.

Called the “SHARC,” the Morrison tool eliminates the need for divers to hand jet cuts made below the water. The SHARC is deployed from the 240-foot vessel Joanne Morrison.

“The SHARC would require an ROV or a diver to set it,” said Marketing Manager Kelly Reeves, who explained that the SHARC is intended for use in waters with a depth of 500 feet or less. “The hydraulic pressure does the cutting from inside the pipe instead of outside. There is a big cost saving in the overall operation. And our product can make cuts below the mudline.”