Cygnus UT FMD Continues to Impress the Offshore Inspection Industry

Flooded Member Detection is an inspection regime designed to screen subsea platform structural members for defects. A cracked weld, for example, can allow the ingress of sea water into the member which may go on to create a point of failure for the structure. Operators therefore inspect these members on a regular basis to gain confidence that there has been no sea water ingress.

The Cygnus ultrasonic Flooded Member Detection (FMD) system is a rugged, simple to use solution for detecting the presence of water in offshore members. It is the only product of its kind available on the market that is designed and manufactured by a dedicated, ultrasonic NDT (Non-Destructive Testing) specialist.

When the Cygnus FMD system presents a Flooded / Not Flooded result, the result is backed up with a rectified A-Scan. This allows for the all-important verification of a result and allows either the technician on site (or an off-site engineer at a later date) to confirm the reading is absolutely correct.

For nearly 40 years, Cygnus customers around the globe have associated the Cygnus name with easy to use and accurate equipment – and the FMD system is no exception. Additional features that simplify the FMD inspection process for offshore engineers and technicians include a contact sensor that allows the topside team (those at the surface who are monitoring the inspection) to confirm that correct contact with the member has been made; in addition, a 4-way gimble also assists with placing the probe correctly; and simple, intuitive software will generate pdf reports for the client – and has the facility to import Work Plans prior to deployment.

In June 2018, after trialling the FMD equipment, Ashtead Technology partnered with Cygnus Instruments in an exclusive arrangement to bring the system to the International rental market. There are ongoing hires for Cygnus systems currently mobilised from Ashtead Technology’s facilities in Aberdeen, Texas, Louisiana, Middle East and Singapore offices.

Scott Stephen, Key Account Manager for Ashtead Technology, is pleased to note that “the Cygnus Ultrasonic FMD System has quickly been adopted by the subsea inspection industry – and continues to grow a reputation for reliability and consistency of results. Cygnus’ UT FMD tool is proving to be an extremely reliable and effective tool for determining if subsea members are dry or flooded. The system has been used to great effect to carry out campaigns – some with hundreds of members to inspect.”

One of Ashtead’s hires has been for the Summer 2020 campaign by Rever Offshore. Rever’s Robert Robb commented that “we have successfully used the Cygnus UT FMD system on several campaigns now – increasing safety on our vessels by having no radioactive source, which in turn reduces risk and POB. With the end result of reducing cost to the end client.”

Scott Stephen added: “As the comments from Rever show, client feedback on these FMD systems has been extremely positive and we are now seeing the Cygnus system requested in specifications for FMD campaigns. This is exciting for us and for Cygnus and we are both pleased and proud to support new innovation from other UK companies. The support shown from Cygnus has been a major positive – they are always keen to absorb feedback and develop; after one specific customer request, Cygnus created a Configurable FMD Test data output (via COM port) that feeds directly to Digital Edge. In combination with a strong base product, this is another excellent step to making this system the default choice for Operators and Contractors.”

The Cygnus FMD is available for sale and for hire now. Call Cygnus today to discuss your application and to see if we can help reduce risk and cost.