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| The S-90 hydraulic hammer is capable of delivering 90 kiloNewtons of pile-driving force on the seabed. |
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World Oil: Can you give us a quick overview of Conductor Installation Services?
Penman: I was a Region and Business Development Manager for BJ Tubular Services from 1988 until 2004. During that period I set up a hammer division in 1995 for BJ.
In 2005, when the Acteon Group was seeking to strengthen its foundations service area through the provision of a conductor installation service business, we set up Conductor Installation Services, based in Great Yarmouth, UK. As demand for the services grew, CIS opened regional bases in Singapore for the Asia/Pacific, Qatar for the Middle East/North Africa, and a third one in Lafayette, Louisiana, for operations in North and South America. We now have one of the largest hydraulic hammer fleets in the world, with 25 operational packages strategically placed around the globe, and have worked in 41 countries. CIS has been accredited with: ISO 19001, 18001 and 14001, with certification covering each region.
Our core business is the installation of piles and conductors within the oil and gas and marine construction industries. We’ve installed over 700 conductor slots/piles during the past seven years. We are capable of performing these operations from jack-up rigs or platforms, and performed pile-driving operations from the back of a barge and a boat. Of course, we can do it onshore.
WO: Is your offshore business increasing?
Penman: Recently, we have been doing more subsea pile installations, and there are only a few companies in the world that do this. So now we are looking at creating an offshore installation arm of CIS, focusing on underwater installation of piles and conductors, up to 250 m and up to 48-in. OD. That covers FPSOs, subsea manifolds, PLEMs, PLETs, and subsea production systems.
WO: What kinds of tools are required to work at those depths?
Penman: We need specialist tools for that. Our 90kJ and 150kJ hydraulic hammers can work subsea, but they need to be dressed for working underwater. And you need certain other tools to go with it—hydraulic winches, umbilicals (electronic cables)—as well as the hydraulic hoses, to allow you to control the hammer itself underwater. We use ROVs to spot-check and keep an eye on the equipment when it’s underwater. In general, you need quite a sophisticated package to go with it—one that might include, for example, MENCK’s 100kJ hammer.
Obviously, you cannot use outdated diesel hammers for this type of operation. We use hydraulic hammers that are controllable from 5% to 100% of energy from a computer on either the rig floor or deck of a boat or barge. As far as the hydraulic hammer industry goes, there are not very many companies. It’s a niche market, so there aren’t that many engineers who can do this in the world, but fortunately we’ve got 30 within CIS.
WO: So you are planning to create an offshore service line?
Penman: From the beginning, we supplied subsea services as a sideline, but the potential is so high offshore that we can focus on this specifically, in addition to our work in conductor installation. So we’re looking at having dedicated supervisors overseeing this service line. Our intention is to make a service line for underwater pile installation.
WO: Where do you see your business going in the coming years?
Penman: What we’re looking to do is to enhance our existing technology—we will innovate, make it safer, faster, better and more efficient. My goal is to have a high-tech underwater spread in each of the world’s main regions. The technology will evolve.
But in the end, it’s the people with the experience who make the difference. In the seven-plus years we’ve been in business, we haven't had a single lost-time incident. And we are working in very harsh environments. We have a Q-HSE system that is second to none, and it’s home-grown. We’ve been given the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Gold award two years in a row, and are up for a third. Through our extensive training programs, all of our people, top to bottom, are focused on the safety of the workers and the environment. 
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