Deep Down Delivers Intelligent In-Line Winch System for Offshore Deployment HOUSTON, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Deep Down, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: DPDW) today announced it has delivered and installed the first of two active heave compensated in-line winch systems to Schlumberger, Inc.
Deep Down believes there is sufficient demand in the offshore market to support the development of a new line (Proteus(TM)) of custom-engineered active-heave compensated in-line winch systems to complement the Company's existing product and service capabilities. This equipment can be installed in-line on existing winch systems to add active heave compensation capabilities. Depending on the custom-engineered requirements of its customers, the Company expects to deliver these in-line systems at prices ranging from approximately $500,000 to $1,000,000 each. Due to proprietary and confidentiality considerations, the Company cannot disclose the price of these systems delivered to Schlumberger, Inc., nor the area of deployment.
Deep Down recently completed a project for Schlumberger, Inc. requiring the engineering and design of an intelligent control system to manage the recovery and deployment of equipment, machinery, and other payloads in subsea environments. Active heave compensation systems are installed on seagoing vessels and drilling rigs to reduce the heave, or vertical movement, that subsea payloads experience due to wave activity. They are typically used when precision well logging or drill hole monitoring operations are being performed, or for specific ROV operations. In many cases, it is critical to keep these payloads stable while the surface deployment vessel is moving vertically from large oceanic swells.
The system was designed to maintain vertical displacement of a subsea payload to within six-tenths of an inch even if the surface deployment vessel, or ship, is experiencing a heave of up to 30 feet. The control system monitors these vertical motions and compensates by releasing and retrieving the main winch to keep the payload essentially still.
'The development of our Proteus(TM) line of active heave compensated winch systems is a prime example of the opportunities that are available to us through the collaborative efforts of Deep Down and ElectroWave. We expect this collaboration to continue as we seek to meet the growing demands of our customers for solutions to challenges in ultra deepwater environments,' commented Ron Smith, president of Deep Down.
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