SMD Delivers QTrencher 1000 to KT Submarine

Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD) has delivered a QTrencher 1000 ROV to KT Submarine, after successful completion of factory acceptance testing.

Prior to this delivery for the Korean subsea cable specialist, SMD supplied a standard cable plough in 1998, followed by the supply of a MD3XT 500kW, jetting assisted telecoms cable plough in 2012.

According to SMD, the delivery of the trenching system was brought forward by one month, at KT Submarine’s request, to coincide with the early completion of the refurbishment of its cable ship, Responder.

The whole system including associated control, LARS and spares package was then loaded directly onto the newly refurbished vessel at A&P Tyne, which is located directly across the river from SMD’s trenching production facility. SMD staff will then work with KT Submarine at their Korean base to mobilise the trenching system on board M/V Miraero, the multi-purpose vessel that will be mainly engaged in post lay inspection and burial (PLIB) works on telecom cables, power cables and smaller O&G pipes.

With two of these vehicles already delivered and in service, the QTrencher 1000 is capable of trenching rigid products, power cables and telecommunication cables up to three meters in the seabed.

The 2000m rated ROV has 1000hp of total installed power and up to 940hp of variable jetting power. The vehicle has been supplied with new launch and recovery equipment including telescopic docking head which will be integrated with an existing A-Frame, and a fast response winch and umbilical cable protection system.

Paul Davison, MD of SMD’s Trenching, Mining and Renewables division, said: “KT Submarine is an excellent client to work with and we are delighted to support their operations and market growth. Their success with the latest generation cable plough has shown how innovation can be used to improve performance. We look forward to a similar transformation when the 1000hp jet trenching machine operates in Asian markets.”

WD Jung, MD at KT Submarine, commented: “The new QTrencher 1000 system has been bought based on reliable support given on operation of our current SMD systems, as well as the QTrencher 1000 system’s track record. This new tool will allow KT Submarine to expand its capability on subsea trenching market, substantially.”