In November, Viper Subsea received a boost from the South West Regional Development Agency with an award of a grant to help complete the extensive qualification testing of our hydraulic stabplate.

A team of four engineers has been working on the 'VIPERconnect' prototype for the past year and the RDA’s grant of £134,000 means it can now be taken forward to make it ready for commercial application. The VIPERconnect offers a number of discriminating technical features that means that the subsea hydraulic connections can be made up more quickly and more reliably than current practice. Patents have been filed in a number of countries, and excellent feedback has been received from potential customers and end-users.

The Grant for Research and Development investment will ensure that the product is successfully taken through the prototype build and rigorous testing programme necessary before it is ready for first installation.

Ranber Maan, business innovation adviser at the South West RDA added: "Viper Subsea has developed a product with key technology and technical features that will provide a unique connection system on the seabed in deepwater. The VIPERconnect, which has been designed to operate for 25 years in water depths up to 4,000 metres, is a great example of engineering innovation and we are delighted to have awarded a development grant to a product that is destined to have far-reaching impact in future oil and gas production."

More information on the SWRDA can be found on their website: www.southwestrda.org.uk

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