Kystdesign AS

Strengthening its position

Owned and managed by Erik Kold Bakkevig and Pål G Eide, Kystdesign AS is an independent company established in 1997 delivering in-house designed ROVs and subsea intervention technology.

The company was founded following the departure of Stolt Offshore AS from Haugesund, a town on the West Coast of Norway. Along with DeepOcean, Kystdesign worked on expanding its expertise in the apparent gap in the market. From its year of inception, where Kystdesign achieved revenues of NOK two million, it has experienced steady growth through the years and enjoyed a significant turnover of nearly NOK 100 million in 2007.

Kystdesign consists of multi-discipline engineering teams, with specialists in mechanical design, hydraulic systems, electronics and software development. Its main products and services include ROVs; ROV tools; tool control systems and software; hydraulic and electronics engineering; structural engineering, lifting equipment, deck structures and sea fastening elements; as well as hydrodynamics and marine engineering.

Offering a wide range of hydraulic work class ROV designs, Kystdesign sticks to the use of hydraulics in propulsion and control, as it believes it to be the most cost efficient, reliable and powerful solution for vehicles that need to cover a wide range of demanding tasks. It is cost efficient, as it only requires the minimum size and weight for vehicles used in Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (IMR) operations, and reliable because subsea hydraulics and controls are a proven technology based on successful components that are used in deep-sea areas.

Speaking to European Oil & Gas, Erik Kold Bakkevig, Kystdesign’s co-owner states: “Utilising a technology refined from years of operation and hands-on experience by its designers, Kystdesign developed the Supporter vehicle – a unique intervention vehicle as it combines flexibility and capacities only matched by much larger ROVs, within a compact but accessible vehicle envelope. The system is powerful and versatile, and helps to significantly reduce clients’ capital and operation costs.”

The Supporter is able to accommodate up to 24 additional tooling hydraulic functions, of which four are high-flow (75 l/m), and up to 20 additional survey sensors and eight cameras. All hydraulic functions are proportionally controlled, and there is ground fault monitoring on all channels in the electronics system. The ROV control system offers a variety of autofunctions and station-keeping capabilities.

Kystdesign delivered its first ROV system in 2001 and, in total, 11 Supporter and Installer systems have been delivered up to the end of 2007. Speaking from his office in Haugesund, Pål G. Eide, Kystdesign’s other co-owner, highlights the company’s key strengths: “Operative experience coupled with high levels of creativity and a problem solving attitude within our staff, as well as being a focused and small organisation with minimum overhead costs are the aspects that set Kystdesign apart our competitors. All our ROVs are designed by and for people with easy operation in mind – all components are designed in parallel with the ROV development, ensuring optimal layout, performance and logistics. Today, over 100 ROV pilots have Kystdesign’s vehicles as their work place and the feedback we continuously receive is overwhelmingly positive.”

The end of 2007 marked a significant milestone in the relationship between Kystdesign and DeepOcean, as Kystdesign celebrated the delivery of the tenth ROV to DeepOcean. With the delivery of Supporter 05 and 06, DeepOcean has in operation, today, four Installer vehicles and six Supporter vehicles that have been provided by Kystdesign. Pål highlights recent projects that the company has been awarded: “We are currently working on producing subsea control systems for a new large series of RMR systems for AGR Subsea AS. In the following months we will also be completing a new generation subsea control system for AGR, which is intended for deeper waters.

“At the end of 2007, we successfully signed a contract with RUE AS for the delivery of a second Supporter system. The contract includes provisions of complete turnkey ROV systems, with an option of two more systems for deliveries in 2009.”

With thoughts on the future, Pål comments: “Kystdesign’s plan is to strengthen the design and engineering team, and to realise promising opportunities for the subsea intervention industry. The challenge we face is in introducing our products to the international market, so our immediate growth opportunities are mainly seen in the sectors in which we have already created a name and reputation for ourselves.

“The ROV systems delivered by Kystdesign have been operating worldwide including the North Sea; the Barents region; the Mexican Gulf and the Black Sea, and our back-office services and onshore follow-up services have been praised by our clients. So our main goal now is to convince clients all over the globe that Kystdesign’s ROVs are the most reliable and cost effective solution for any worldwide operation,” he concludes.

Kystdesign AS

Products & Services: ROVs and subsea intervention technology