• 한국해양공학회지
• /
• 제34권5호
• /
• pp.361-370
• /
• 2020

We developed a heavy-duty work class ROV trencher named URI-T (Underwater robot it's trencher) that can conduct burial and maintenance tasks for underwater cables and small diameter pipelines. It requires various supporting systems, including a dynamic positioning (DP) vessel, launch and recovery system (LARS), A-frame, and winch in order to perform burial tasks because of its dimensions (6.5 m × 5.0 m × 4.5 m, 20 t) and the tough working environment. However, operating a DP vessel has disadvantages as it is expensive to rent and operate and it is difficult to adjust the working schedule for some domestic coast construction cases. In this paper, we propose a method using a barge instead of a DP vessel to avoid the above disadvantages. Although burying the cable and pipeline using a barge has lower working efficiency than a DP vessel, it can save construction expenses and does not require a large crew. The proposed method was applied over two months at the construction of the water supply in Yokji-do, and the results were verified.

• 한국해양공학회지
• /
• 제33권3호
• /
• pp.300-311
• /
• 2019

An ROV trencher is a type of heavy-duty work class ROV equipped with high-pressure water jet tools for cutting into the sea floor and burying cables. This kind of trencher is mostly used for PLIB operations. This paper introduces the development of this kind of ROV trencher, which has a 698 kW power system, with a 250 kW hydraulic system and two 224 kW water jet systems. The project was launched in January 2014. After four years of design, manufacturing, and system integration, we carried out two sea trials near the Yeongilman port (about 20-30 m in depth) in Pohang to evaluate the system performance in November 2017 and August 2018. Through tests, we found that most of specifications were satisfied, including a maximum bury depth of 3 m, maximum bury speed of 2 km/h, and maximum forward speed of 1.54 m/s.