Dutch DSM and Lankhorst Introduce Breakthrough Deepwater Mooring Technology

DSM and Lankhorst Ropes cooperation delivers breakthrough technology for deepwater permanent moorings.

DSM, producer of Dyneema, the world’s strongest fiber, has introduced DM20, a new fiber designed for the production of incredibly strong ropes that provide unrivalled strength, stiffness and durability. DM20 is an innovative fiber that completely redefines the capability of HMPE ropes and forms the basis of Dyneema Max Technology. This breakthrough technology is developed for the production of deepwater mooring ropes for oil and gas production facilities. Rigorously tested, these ropes are ideal for all rope applications requiring resistance to permanent loads.

Deepwater mooring rope specialist Lankhorst Ropes Offshore Division is the first company to use Dyneema Max Technology. The company has developed Gama 98, a new generation of high molecular weight polyethylene (HMPE) mooring ropes suitable for use in permanent deepwater moorings beyond 2.000 m water depth.

With a significantly smaller diameter than polyester, low creep, high fatigue resistance and weightlessness in water, mooring ropes made with the new DM20 grade from DSM offer benefits across planning, system design, logistics, hook-up and installation stages. They guarantee maximum strength over a maximum lifetime, as well as faster handling and improved safety – leading to greater effectiveness and efficiency.

Over ten years ago, DSM and Lankhorst Ropes teamed up to develop technically advanced ropes, and some years later they decided to focus on mooring systems for use in deep water. Working together, the companies initially demonstrated the benefits of HMPE mooring ropes for deepwater Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (MODUs) with SK78. SK78 is currently the only HMPE fiber certified for use in deepwater MODU applications. More recently, DSM developed DM20, a new grade of fiber that has the strength and flexibility required for the production of rope capable of enhanced performance in permanent deepwater and ultra-deepwater moorings. Subsequently, Lankhorst translated those properties into possibly the strongest deepwater synthetic rope construction in the world: ‘Gama 98, incorporating Dyneema Max Technology’.

[mappress]
Subsea World News Staff, May 11, 2012; Image: DSM