OSI Completes Communication Cable Installation in Colombia

Ocean Specialists, Inc. (OSI), a global provider of marine project development and operations services, announced the successful installation of a subsea fiber optic network serving an offshore oil offloading buoy in the Caribbean Sea for a key energy client in Colombia.

The project is representative of OSI’s end-to-end approach to delivering integrated solutions to complex subsea challenges. OSI’s project management role included the design and engineering of the submarine and terrestrial cable segments, including selection and procurement of system elements, installation planning and design, and oversight of implementation and commissioning support.

The subsea cable provides high bandwidth and redundant communications to the buoy from an onshore control room. To ensure a robust and fit-for-purpose connection, OSI partnered with MacArtney to design and manufacture a custom cable termination equipped with a dynamic cable riser and spare wet-mate subsea connectors for future network expansion.

The subsea and terrestrial cables were provided by Hexatronic, based in Sweden. Prior to delivery it was decided to run the cable Factory Acceptance Testing remotely. The lessons learned from this process, amid the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, have proven critically important to the ongoing progress of other OSI projects restricted by the necessary international travel limitations.

Speaking of the successful cable installation, OSI’s project lead, Jose Troncoso, said: “This challenging project drew on a wide range of our in-house skills, including network and optical engineering, mechanical design, installation planning, and program management. Managing risk for our customers on these complex projects defines our core business, and we appreciate the confidence our customers place in us to deliver for them.”