Connections to subsea electrical equipment

Abstract

A pivoting cable connection for a subsea equipment unit comprises a tubular cable guide supported by the unit, extending along and around a pivot axis. A cable extending through the connection comprises an intermediate section extending along or beside the pivot axis within the cable guide and an outboard section, pivotable about the pivot axis, that extends away from the pivot axis in a direction transverse to the pivot axis. When installing or retrieving the unit onto or from the seabed, pivotal movement of the outboard section of the cable relative to the unit is accommodated by torsional deformation of the intermediate section of the cable. By allowing the cable to pivot above and below the pivot axis, the connection enables the unit to be lowered from a vessel that also pays out and lays the cable. Preliminarily, the cable can be coupled to the unit aboard the same vessel.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.