News

Find out about our Cable Integrity Risk Assessment and the process we follow to create the most streamlined and cost effective plan to achieve full lifetime risk management.

Subsea power cables are critical yet vulnerable aspects of any offshore project, so how do you make sure all key stakeholders understand the potential issues, risks and costs at the earliest stage of a project, in order to reduce the risk of over conservatism in engineering and design? Find out more from our Cables Lead, Gareth Ellis.

At Cathie UK, we’re certified to ISO 45001 where one of the key requirements is to consult with your workforce. It is no accident that employers who engage and consult with their workforce have more engaged staff, which contribute to more resilient systems. Our Group QHSE Manager, Peter Geddis, discusses the importance of communication in developing resilient OHS systems.

Interested in understanding the feasibility of an offshore wind site and assessing project risk before any surveys have even taken place? With the Round 4 offshore lease area auctions underway around the UK we discuss the methods available to support developers.

This year has brought some unexpected surprises and challenges for many industries including oil and gas. The global economic downturn we are experiencing as a result of Covid-19 has had some potentially long-term effects on the industry and the need for diversification has never been more apparent. As a company who began our diversification a number of years ago, not only is it good for the environment, it’s also good for business.

COVID-19’s impact is felt throughout our industry. At Cathie, we’re equipped and accepting of the challenges this brings. Thanks to our preparation, we remain busy with both new and existing projects and we’re working hard to minimise any impact to our clients’ projects.

The Carbon Trust Cable Burial Risk Assessment (CBRA) Guidelines offer a standardized, repeatable and qualitative method to improve risk management of subsea cables, improve estimates of risk through reducing undue conservatism, and ultimately reduce the installation and insurance costs for subsea cables. Cathie were one of the lead authors of the Carbon Trust CBRA guidelines and were then retained by the Carbon Trust Offshore Wind Accelerator to act as technical advisers.

Offshore Wind has massive potential. Bloomberg New Energy Finance anticipates that the global offshore wind market will grow to 115GW by 2030 – a six-fold increase in 12 years! 2019 is expected to be a record year for offshore wind power in established markets with many emergent markets such as the US and Taiwan really ramping up. In addition, UK’s 30GW ambition will attract unrivaled opportunities for the supply chain, and £48 billion investment.

Infrastructure which interacts with the seabed, that is, foundations and subsea cables, accounts for a very significant portion of CAPEX spend, sometimes as much as 40 percent. This infrastructure depends on diligent design, robust ground model and seabed risk management to reduce CAPEX, ensuring constructability and to reduce long term OPEX spend. The quality, reliability and type of data characterising the seabed is critical to this process. Optimising something as simple as sample type and subsequent control on laboratory testing specifications can very positively impact CAPEX for foundations.

Pile Driving Monitoring (PDM) during driving and Pile Dynamic Testing (PDT) are widely used in onshore and offshore construction to ensure the structural integrity of the piles during driving and achieve a safe and economical pile installation. PDM helps to assess the pile behaviour during installation and thus to confirm the assumptions taken during pile design; as well, it allows to control the dynamic stresses in the pile and keep the hammer energy at max level compatible with pile integrity, thus allowing for an efficient management of the piling on field.