Flexible cable solutions for harsh environments

26 / 06 / 2019

A recent cable purchasing survey highlighted that in many cases, cable end user installers were less than happy with the handling characteristics of many offshore cables, and in particular, the bend radius of various cables for easy installation. So what can we do to improve the situation?

Cable Solutions Worldwide has been speaking with customers to better understand the issues identified in the survey. Feedback revealed that many cable products were difficult to manoeuvre during installation, and had resulted in time management issues on offshore projects. Difficult to bend and difficult to install was the main issues identified in the survey.

Like many industries, the oil & gas and marine industry can be habitual in its buying behaviour, purchasing cable based on what the industry recommends, and what trends advise as being the most suitable.

In listening to our customers, we have actioned the standardisation of our UKOOA and NEK606 in-stock cables to class 5 stranded conductors. Class 5 is much more flexible than the industry standard class 2, and it can give up to 4 x the bend radius, providing increased installation efficiency for the installer, easier to bend, easier to install, and reducing overall installation time.

Graham Ross - Business Development Manager commented - "Cable installation suitability is sometimes overlooked when purchasing cable for a project, and it's our job as cable suppliers, to make sure that our customers are understood on any user-friendly handling issues. We don't just manufacture and supply cable, we get involved with our customers at project level, supporting our customers at every stage."