Offshore Subsea Works Sdn Bhd has recently achieved a Malaysia Book of Records Feat for the ‘Deepest Saturation Dive’. The dive was carried out by a Malaysian Diver, En. Bokhari Sae, on 23 July 2007 to a depth of 197 meters at Murphy Oil’s Kikeh Field, off Sabah waters. Offshore Subsea Works Sdn Bhd (OSS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Offshore Works Sdn Bhd, was incorporated in September 2002 with the primary goal of pioneering professional underwater services to Malaysia’s oil and gas industry.
OSS service profile encompasses underwater engineering, inspection, repair and maintenance, surface and saturation diving services, remotely operated vehicle (R. O. V. ) services, hyperbaric welding services, Single Point Mooring system inspection, repair and maintenance work, third party classification survey, and pipeline and structural repair services.
In just a few years, OSS has earned the recognition of industry players as a fully integrated, one-stop marine contractor for this region’s oil and gas industry and has built up an impressive profile of valued multinational clients namely ExxonMobil, Petronas Penapisan Melaka, Shell, ENI Saipem, Carigali Hess, Modec, SBM Inc. , PTSC Offshore Services, TL Offshore, Talisman Energy and PT Trans Gas Indonesia.
OSS has also achieved accreditation from the International Standard Organisation or ISO, certified by SIRIM in 2005 and is registered with government agencies and organisations such as Petronas, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Defence and CIDB. OSS conducted the ‘Deepest Saturation Dive’ at the Kikeh deepwater field using their Dynamic Positioning Diving Support Vessel or DPDSV “Offshore Stephaniturm”. The DPDSV is equipped with a 12-man DRAEGER 230 meter rated Saturation Diving System capable of split level saturation in full compliance with the IMCA International Code of Practice Audit and IMO regulations.
It is also permanently equipped with a 75hp Work Class Remotely Operated Vehicle or R. O. V. System. This DPDSV with her in-built Saturation Diving System, which is presently the only DPDSV with an in-built 230 meter rated system available in Malaysia, enabled them to perform the first and deepest dive of its type in the history of deepwater field development in water depths of 200 meters, exceeding any submersion levels thus far achieved by other companies.
Saturation diving is a technique that allows divers to live under pressure in hyperbaric chambers on a DSV for a maximum duration of 28 days without decompressing in order for them to perform tasks in deep water depths. The divers are transported to and from the depths in a submersible chamber. Each diver team will work to 8 hours at the working depth before the chamber is returned to the surface for personnel change-over.
In this way, continuous 24 hours manned intervention at depth can be achieved. Decompression is then conducted just once at the end of the 28 day period. According to Mr. Muhammad Charles Mok, Executive Director of OSS, “We are extremely proud and grateful to have received this award for setting this record and we are sure that such recognition will further spur us on to ever greater levels of achievement”.
