Manufacturers of subsea pressure vessels

As the subsea community is ever active with new technology and exploration of every kind, it does so against a background of tighter budgets and reduced workforces. The disparity between need and the ability to supply these needs means costs have to be streamlined and efficiency increased.

PREVCO is a subsea engineering company, specializing in the design and production of underwater housings and is able to address some of these needs by supplying their stock and custom products to businesses across the entire subsea industry.

The company was founded by John Head in 1999 who graduated from MIT as an Ocean Engineer and spent many years in the industry working with both subsea vehicles systems and connectors before starting Prevco and has never looked back.

It was his view that there was a place in the market for a company to specialize in designing subsea enclosures, a job that is often performed by in-house engineers. According to John Head ‘’In the current market, with the reduction in manpower (engineers) the ability to outsource for subsea enclosures has never been more important and beneficial for both time and cost reasons, and that’s where Prevco can help out!’’

Traditionally, PREVCO’s main market has been the Defence and Oil & Gas industries, however with the current changing market conditions, more work is being done to support scientific projects and environmental monitoring as well as offshore renewables, arguably one of the fastest growing of the subsea industries.

PREVCO has the ability to provide fully custom housings as required, in many popular subsea materials and they offer a range of stock, off-the-shelf housings in many diameters and lengths that are kept in stock, ready for any customer required modifications (connector penetrations, mounting locations, etc.) before shipping.

PREVCO’s unique in-house software called ‘New Tube Designs’ contains proprietary algorithms and allows the quick and accurate design of both stock and custom housings. This software creates the ability to rapidly develop subsea enclosure designs from scratch, taking only minutes rather than the weeks which are typically spent taking a project from the initial concept, through design and review meetings, to detailed engineering and eventually to approval and fabrication. New Tube Designs has evolved over many years and now not only develops the design but provides all of the essential information to build enclosures.

Additionally, Prevco also offers fast-ship, in stock accessories including Pressure Relief Valves (Dual Poppet and Single Poppet), Dual Seal Vent plugs, Zinc Anodes, an ROV/Diver operated Electric Switch and a portable Vacuum Leak Test and Nitrogen Backfill Kit that is really handy for in the field enclosure assembly.

Over the last few years, the company has grown in size; it opened a UK sales office in 2012 and in 2014 relocated the main office to a 30,000 square foot building on 5 acres in lovely Fountain Hills Arizona.

The new facility, now includes a dedicated pressure test center with three hydrostatic chambers of different sizes and the ability to pressurise up to 15,250 psi, equivalent to over 10,000 meters of water! A typical test cycle for Prevco is for one, one hour hold and two ten minute holds follow by disassembly and inspection. The Pressure Test facility is open for outside customers and the test cycle can be changed to suit customer’s needs.

PREVCO anticipates further growth in the coming years as they continue to improve services and expand their product range to meet the needs of an ever evolving industry.