‘World’s Most Powerful Mass Flow Excavation Tool’

The SP12000 produces more than 6 metric tons of thrust at full power and a significant volume output of 12,000 liters of water per second, making it ideal for large seabed preparation projects, sandwave clearances, freespan rectifications and large diameter pipeline trenching.

James Fisher Subsea Excavation’s expert team recently completed an extensive reengineering project on the SP12000. Advanced hydrodynamics and improved efficiency have been combined to give an excellent flow regime, which produces the cleanest cut trench possible by a mass or controlled flow excavator, according to its developer. Despite its size, the fully-controllable SP12000 is also capable of smaller-scale, precision excavation. 

This new technology is also being applied to the company’s existing fleet of mass flow excavators, also known as controlled flow excavators, around the world. 

Graham Murdoch, technical director of James Fisher Subsea Excavation, is part of a team that has been responsible for the successful completion of more than 400 projects over a period of 18 years. He said, “Adding the SP12000 to our range means we can support our clients on an even wider range of projects. The ability to match different tools to any given workscope allows us to provide the most time and cost-effective solutions available for projects worldwide.?

“The SP12000 is a massive step forward in mass, or controlled, flow excavation. It has immense power with the capability to provide large-scale clearance and trenching, but it retains the precision and controllability to be as safe and exact as our other market-leading tools. This is a real game changer for our clients who have large-scale requirements,” Murdoch continued.

“The technological advances we have developed during this engineering phase have already started to be transferred to our other excavators with the benefits being realized on recent projects for our clients,” Murdoch said. 

James Fisher Subsea Excavation said its fleet of tools provide a noncontact form of excavation that eliminates the risks associated with other excavation methods, especially around complex subsea assets. Further enhancing its capability, the tools have the additional benefit of real-time sonar imaging, enabling precision excavation in confined areas, as well as for large cable or pipeline scopes.

James Fisher Subsea Excavation has a total of 28 spreads which, alongside the SP12000, include the established ‘T’ tools, the innovative TwinProp and the SP single prop range. James Fisher Subsea Excavation’s equipment is used for applications including pipeline and cable trenching, deburial, rock dump dispersal and seabed clearance and preparations. The mass flow excavators are ideal for moving materials such as sand, silt and mud, drill cuttings, clay and rock dump.