Abandonment and recovery of pipelines
AssigneeAcergy France SAS
InventorsJoffray Yann Noel Loussouarn, William Alexander Grieve
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of converting a subsea laying system of a surface vessel from a laying mode to an abandonment or recovery mode includes clamping at least one tubular sleeve in at least one clamp of the laying system. A winch wire can then run longitudinally through the or each clamped sleeve when suspending an elongate subsea element such as a pipe string during abandonment or recovery operations. The sleeve protects gripping pads of the clamp from damage due to clashing with the wire and so makes it unnecessary to remove the pads in preparation for abandonment or recovery
Claims43
A method of converting a subsea laying system of a surface vessel from a laying mode to an abandonment or recovery mode comprises;
- clamping at least one tubular sleeve in at least one clamp of the laying system;
- and
- running a wire longitudinally through the or each clamped sleeve to suspend an elongate subsea element during abandonment or recovery.
A sleeve for use in protecting gripping elements of a clamp of a subsea laying system, the sleeve comprising:
- a tubular body portion;
- a tubular skirt on an end of the body portion, aligned with the body portion along a common longitudinal axis to define a lumen that extends continuously along the sleeve through the body portion and the skirt;
- and
- an internal seating formation in the lumen between the body portion and the skirt;
- wherein the skirt is enlarged radially relative to the body portion and has an internal diameter that is greater than the external diameter of the body portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.