commercial diving services

Using experienced professional divers, our team is capable of performing a wide range of underwater inspections and the most complex underwater repair, maintenance and engineering services.

Discover below our range of services with a dive team that will maximize your uptime during the contract and minimize downtime during unplanned stops.

Non-Destructive Testing - Magnetic Particle Testing - Underwater Inspection

Among the various underwater inspection activities, Magnetic Particle Testing occupies a prominent position. The main objective of the technique is to detect surface and subsurface linear discontinuities (fatigue cracks) that may appear in the connection welds of the various components of an oceanic structure, due to the cyclic efforts that develop in these regions. The test uses a homogeneous magnetic field (magnetic flux lines) to run through the piece and thus detect discontinuities.

Non-Destructive Testing - Underwater Visual Inspection - Underwater Inspection

Underwater visual inspection is a subjective technique, performed with the use of vision, used to detect apparent discontinuities and design nonconformities. The basic need for visual inspection is to ensure that an installation or equipment is capable of performing its functions correctly and safely. For this to actually occur, there is a need to inspect all of its components and accessories regularly. It is widely used in offshore platforms certification processes, providing subsidy to Classification Societies, as well as in the inspection of offshore oil and gas exploration, production and disposal systems.

Visual testing can be performed using two methods: direct and remote. In direct, the test is performed with the naked eye or with the aid of correcting lenses with direct observation of the surface to be inspected. In the remote, the test is performed with the aid of optical devices.

Non-Destructive Tests - Wall Thickness Measurement - (Ultrasound) - Underwater Inspection

The ultrasound test is based on the reflection property of sound waves, when they affect the surface separating two media that have different acoustic properties (acoustic impedance, density, speed of sound, etc.). Ultrasonic waves are used with the aim of dimensioning the effects of corrosion and/or erosion on a metallic surface, also verifying the conditions of the structure in relation to the project.

Non-Destructive Tests - Electrochemical Potential Measurement - Underwater Inspection

When installing a cathodic protection system in a marine installation, it is extremely important to know that it is really protected against corrosion throughout its entirety. The most used and accepted criterion is the electrochemical potential between the structure and the neighboring electrolyte (salt water), measured with a reference electrode. With the use of the bathycorrometer it is possible to monitor the efficiency of the process, thus allowing corrections to be made when necessary.

Pull-In and/or Pull-Out Support

The “pull-in” and “pull out” operations consist of several maneuvers performed between a UEP (Stationary Production Unit) and a Pipeline laying support vessel (PLSV), and the execution of these operations is always preceded by a mobilization and preparation of the pulling systems (main winch -pull in machine- and auxiliary winches). These maneuvers are performed to interconnect satellite wells, collectors (subsea manifolds) and import or export flow systems, through the transfer of flexible or rigid pipelines, from the PLSV to the UEP, in case of "pull-in", and from the UEP for PLSV, in case of “pull-out”.

Assembly of Subsea Structures

Expertise in metrology for the manufacture of structural elements and the manufacture of templates, installation and removal of underwater structures, execution of submerged concreting and others, which enable/facilitate the process of exploration of oil and its derivatives.

Installation and Removal of Anodes

Corrosive processes cause undesirable changes that are highly harmful to any equipment. When this equipment is found in aggressive environments, such as salt water, corrosion starts to have a very significant effect on the integrity of these installations. The premature deterioration of the material of an offshore platform can affect its useful life or else generate stress concentration points that can lead the material to fatigue, causing massive material damage or irreparable personal injury. To protect these marine installations from corrosive processes, in their submerged part, cathodic protection (galvanic or impressed current) is used. Cathodic protection inhibits corrosive processes by injecting an electric current into the structure through the electrolyte.

Manual and Mechanical Cleaning of Surfaces

The need to clean a surface and the degree of this cleaning is determined by the type of work that will be carried out on it. The underwater inspector, according to the work to be performed, the area to be cleaned and the degree of surface weathering, must choose the most suitable cleaning method as well as the necessary tools.

Paving of Rigid Pipelines

One of the nonconformities found in the inspection of submarine pipelines is the free span, which is characterized by the distance between two natural or artificial supports, and in this interval the pipeline does not touch the seabed. In this situation, the line can undergo tensions and efforts, especially if there are welded joints in the section, which can lead to fatigue in the pipeline. The purpose of the paving is to adequately support the line, eliminating tension points. What will determine whether a free span has to be paved or not are the technical characteristics of the line (diameter, type of coating, weight, transported fluid, etc.)

Shore End (Cables)

It is a service for preparing the area where the fiber optic cables and/or others will be launched, from the launch ships to the beaches, with the application of slipt-pipes and subsequent recomposition of the launching region, where the cables are buried in the areas underwater and on beaches.

Coating Application

Subsea curing epoxy mass-based coating is widely used to coat completely submerged metal surfaces, or in splash zones and tidal ranges, when the paint coating has been damaged. It is also used in the corrective maintenance of the dielectric shield that is applied around the impressed current anodes. In some very specific cases, it can be used to seal structural damage (fatigue cracks, for example) on offshore platforms.

Hyperbaric Welding

Underwater welding is one of the most interesting techniques for repairing and installing components in marine structures, mainly due to the speed of mobilization and simplicity. In Brazil, it has been successfully used in the oil industry (installation and reinstallation of sacrificial anodes, welding of eyelets, fastening of clamps, repair of fatigue cracks, etc.) and has aroused much interest in the area of ​​ship repairs, from the perspective cost reduction, avoiding the docking of the vessel. Marítimo has been qualifying and training its welders and carrying out work to repair fatigue cracks on Petrobras platforms.

Cutting, Roughing and Milling

In underwater inspection and maintenance work for marine installations, in several situations the diver is required to use hydraulic tools to perform cutting, roughing and milling of parts and surfaces, whether in the installation of structural components or even in the elimination of fatigue cracks superficial.

Repair in Flexible Pipes

Flexible pipelines are used by production and distribution units to transport fluids (oil / gas / water, etc.) at high or low pressure and at varying temperatures. These lines are periodically inspected for damage to the outer coating layer. This damage can quickly compromise the structure, due to the corrosive process, or the continuity of abrasion in the unit's structures, compromising the internal reinforcements.

To prevent corrosion from compromising the line's internal reinforcement, two techniques are used to seal the region where the outer layer is damaged, exposing the tensile reinforcement. This corrective maintenance technique is used in flexible pipelines that have damage in their outer layer, exposing the traction armor, and the agent causing the damage is no longer in place. The second technique is used in cases where the agent causing the damage cannot be removed and still continues to act on the flexible duct, such as, for example, the bow and stern members of a semi-submersible platform, the inner side of a float, the bracings of a jacket, &c.

Preventive and Corrective Maintenance in Sea Boxes

The sea chest is an opening made in the hull of vessels below the waterline for the supply of sea water for cooling engines, feeding the fire fighting system and also for discharging water from various systems. For these reasons, its proper functioning is essential for the unit's routine tasks and also for safety.

Scrap Removal

During the inspection services of marine installations, an occurrence normally detected is the presence of scrap in contact with the metallic surface of these units. The fall of these scraps on the submerged components of a platform can cause various types of mechanical damage, such as tears, cuts, warping and denting. In addition to the problem of damage, scrap metal in direct contact with the metallic part of the structure can interfere with the protection currents generated by the installation's cathodic protection system. It is for these reasons that scraps are removed.

Mooring, Connection, Disconnection and Unmooring of Ships and Monobuoys

Monobuoys are floating ocean terminals, used to transfer production from a platform, a collector (subsea manifold) or even a single subsea well to a shuttle tanker or to transfer production from a shuttle tanker to a terminal on land. . Several services are performed on monobuoys: mooring, connection, disconnection and unmooring of tankers; inspection of submerged components (anchoring system, structural part, catenary angle measurement, inspection of cathodic protection anodes, etc.); plem installation, etc.

Hookup support

Installation, handling, tensioning and maintenance of platform anchoring systems are offshore hook-Up activities. Our company has a highly specialized team (supervisors, winch operators, IRATA climbers, divers, hustlers, boilermakers, welders, other assistants) and complete equipment to perform this service in marine units.

civil Engineering

• Port Technical Services
• Perforations
• Structural Recovery Services
• Technical Management Services
• Surface Protection
• Non-destructive testing
• Hydroelectric Plants and Dams
• Hydrographic Services

Special services

We have the unique advantage of studying the needs of each client in order to find the right solution for each project. In case of doubt or need for special services, contact us for exclusive technical solutions. Some problems do not have predefined solutions; so the partnership of an experienced, certified and qualified company like MARÍTIMO is essential.

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