The ContiTech subsidiary, Dunlop Oil & Marine, Grimsby/UK, has been awarded two major orders from the Dutch company, Bluewater Energy Service BV, Amsterdam. In the first order, more than 200 floating and submarine hoses will be delivered, with which tankers will be loaded and unloaded.

The second order will supply floating and submarine hoses for a unique Tandem system for oil from leaking boreholes. "With its products, the Dunlop Oil & Marine provides an important contribution to securing energy supplies and will help prevent future environmental disasters," says Matthias Schönberg, Head of ContiTech's business unit Fluid technology. ContiTech did not make any indications of the scope of the order.

The decisive factor for the award was the high standards that ContiTech has for its production. Dunlop Oil & Marine is one of a few suppliers able to provide the complete product range with full certification in accordance with the international GMPHOM 2009 standard (Guide to Manufacturing and Purchasing Hoses for Offshore Moorings). In addition, the hoses are fitted with a special lining resistant to the sulfur content of the crude oil.

For the first order, Dunlop Oil & Marine will supply floating and submarine hoses while buoys and mooring systems will be supplied by Bluewater. The delivery will include more than 200 hoses with inside diameters ranging from 40 to 50 cm.

Petróleos de Venezuela S. A. (PDVSA), the largest oil company in Latin America and Venezuela's largest exporter, requires the CALM buoys from Bluewater for oil transport around the world. These buoys are connected to the refineries via subsea steel pipelines. Subsea pipelines are subsequently connected to a CALM buoy by submarine hoses from Dunlop Oil & Marine. Tankers, in turn, are connected to the buoy via the floating hose string and can be loaded and unloaded.

In the second order, Dunlop Oil & Marine will deliver floating hoses for a unique Tandem system to Marine Well Containment Company based in United States. It is part of a collaborative project, in which ten of the most important oil companies are involved. The system will allow recovery of crude oil after the original facility has been damaged following a hurricane or other disasters in the Gulf of Mexico.

"It is a very strategic order due to its technically challenging nature that should lead to future orders for similar systems," explains Dr. A.R. Kambiez Zandiyeh, General Manager of Dunlop Oil & Marine. "We have been chosen over the competition because, as proven, we are capable of managing the technical challenges of this new system." Both orders are required for delivery in the first half of the upcoming year.

Source: ContiTech