First ‘floating’ cable carousel sold to subsea company

AHS’s scope includes design, manufacture, delivery and installation. The complete HydroTable will have an approximate total weight of 170 tonnes and is due for completion and delivery in February 2027.

The company said the contract is a significant milestone for AHS “and provides a strong reference for its patented hydrostatic technology for large-scale cable carousels.”

AHS is also engaged in dialogue with leading international cable manufacturers, offshore installation contractors, naval architects and vessel designers regarding future onshore and offshore applications of HydroTable.

The HydroTable uses a fundamentally different design philosophy for large cable carousels. Rather than relying on conventional mechanical support systems, it uses a pressurised water film to support the rotating structure.

“This approach simplifies overall design while substantially reducing the amount of steel required,” said AHS. “Under comparable design conditions and with the same cable capacity, a HydroTable can be significantly lighter than a conventional cable carousel.

“The HydroTable design uses approximately 90% fewer rotating components than a comparable conventional carousel. This removes many of the wear points and maintenance-intensive components associated with conventional systems, making HydroTable simpler to operate, inspect and maintain.

“For offshore installation vessels, the lower height between the deck and the cable-supporting surface allows the cable payload to be positioned closer to the deck. This can significantly lower the centre of gravity of the loaded carousel and provide more headroom for cable storage within the same installation height.

“Combined with reduced structural weight, these advantages give naval architects and vessel designers greater flexibility when developing future cable installation vessels,” AHS said.

AHS chief executive Ole-Fredrik Sembsaid, “It is rewarding to see this long-term development now being applied in a major project. This contract represents an important step in bringing HydroTable into commercial application at scale.”

“This delivery demonstrates what hydrostatic support can make possible at industrial scale and represents another important step in establishing AHS as a recognised international technology supplier to the offshore cable-handling industry,” said Bard André Solberg AHS VP sales and marketing.

“As cable carousel capacity increases, conventional designs have typically become heavier and mechanically more complex. HydroTable challenges that established approach. We believe the technology has the potential to transform how future cable-handling systems are designed, built and operated, both onshore and offshore.”