Orbital welding solutions for offshore umbilical cables

In the field of offshore oil exploration, vital links between the platform or FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading) units and the seabed equipment are provided by umbilical cables. Understandably, these key components must offer impeccable quality and flawless reliability. Umbilical cables – or “umbilicals” – are assemblies consisting of duplex, super-duplex or even hyper-duplex steel tubes, electric wiring harnesses, hoses and fibre-optic cables bundled together in a steel tube with a protective polyethylene casing. The final outside diameter ranges from 75 to 300 mm. Umbilicals supply the electrical and hydraulic power required by the control functions of the wellhead, subsea wellhead equipment and manifold. They are also used for injecting chemicals designed to improve fluidity or eliminate the formation of scale and hydrates in the production stream. Twoway communication or data transfer between several platforms and the subsea installations is also conducted via umbilicals.