Lofoten-Vesterålen cabled observatory (LoVe) is an ocean observation infrastructure off Hovden, Vesterålen, comprising sea floor cables and sensors. The first part of the infrastructure was installed in 2013 and has been operative thereafter. It includes a land station, a sea floor node (Node 1) and an umbilical that interconnects them. This system is run as a cooperation between IMR and Statoil.

The existing infrastructure will now be extended with Nodes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 as shown in the tender documents. The extension is financed by the Research Council of Norway (RCN), together with in-kind contributions from partners in the LoVe consortium. IMR is the main responsible partner and project manager.

Two tender invitations are being issued for the extension. The present invitation is the first of these: to supply and install the backbone power and communication system. Specifically this includes:

— Electro-optical umbilicals to interconnect Nodes 1, 2, 3, 4, and to connect Node 7 to Node 1

— Subsea Distribution Units (SDUs) for Nodes 2 and 3.

These are sea floor installations to serve as buffers between the umbilical system and the instrument platforms at the nodes.

A single tender is foreseen to include all of the above backbone items.

As mentioned above, a parallel tender invitation will be issued for the instruments and instrument platforms at Nodes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Vendors of the backbone and the instrument systems are required to cooperate to ensure robust and error free connections for power and sensor data.

Please see tender documents for further information.