BOS and SMD to Develop Underwater Drilling ROV for Wind Turbines (UK)

SMD and Blade Offshore Services (BOS) announce the signature of Heads of Terms for a joint venture.

Under the joint venture, expected to be called SMD-BORD, SMD will design and manufacture subsea remote drilling solutions for the marine renewable industry, offering a cost effective alternative to monopile and gravity foundations for wave, tidal and wind devices.

Utilising unique and innovative drilling technology developed by BOS and leveraging SMD’s expertise in remotely operated systems, seabed tractors, and launch and recovery systems, the subsea remote drilling rigs will follow a robust development and test plan prior to being manufactured and assembled at SMD. Initial dry tests on the drill cutter are due to begin shortly.

The drilling rigs will be tailoredto individual client requirements for the size and type of device and deployment methodology, in order to ensure the most economical and efficient solution for foundation and structure installation.

 Paul Hatchett, Strategy Manager at SMD commented: “This joint venture allows Blade Offshore Services and SMD to combine an innovative approach with proven engineering excellence and subsea systems experience. It fits absolutely with what SMD’s Renewables business unit is about – using our subsea experience and engineering skills to solve the challenges around device and infrastructure installation.”

Speaking for BOS, Director of Drilling Operations Management John Swingler said: “BOS view this is a major milestone in the development of the remote drilling solutions for the marine renewables industry. The SMD-BORD joint venture will accelerate to market the design, engineering, fabrication and testing of the remote drilling technology and provide the industry with the solutions required for device installation engineering to move ahead.”

Blade Offshore Services Ltd (BOS) was established in 2006 to provide the offshore oil and gas industry with an operationally based risk management service for marine units. Initially specialising in Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) and technical risk assessment the company has continually responded to client requests and now provides extensive technical services in both the Marine and Drilling disciplines. BOS is constantly evolving and now provides a stream of consultancy services which include, Drilling Management, including drilling solids control, environmental, waste management, Marine and Technical Risk Management services, specialising in Dynamically Positioned Deepwater Vessel verification compliance and incident/accident investigation. BOS has an extensive client base including many of the world’s large oil companies, drilling contractors and vessel operators.

The company is registered in Darlington, County Durham with a representative office in Brazil and operates on a global basis.

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Source: smd, October 27, 2011