Basket Drive System for Cable Manufacturers and Offshore Contractors

Instead of building a carousel with integrated drives at every storage position, the Basket Drive System (BDS) separates the rotating machinery from the baskets. One self-propelled drive unit moves between positions across your storage floor, connecting to whichever basket needs spooling.

Your baskets become simple steel structures resting on support trestles. The drive unit does all the work.
For cable manufacturers and offshore contractors, that means lower capital cost per storage position, simpler basket design, and a spooling system that can be expanded one basket at a time as your operation grows.

The drive unit is remote-operated and travels on wheels between basket positions.

Connecting

The unit moves underneath a basket and extends locking pins upward to secure the connection. Once locked, the combined drive and basket rotates for cable spooling.

Releasing

After spooling, the drive unit lifts the basket approximately 100-200mm while support trestles are positioned underneath. The basket lowers onto the supports, the pins retract, and the drive moves to the next position.

Moving full baskets

Loaded baskets are relocated using a separate Basket Mover. The drive unit transports empty baskets but operates stationary during spooling.

A conventional storage yard has carousel drives at every position. Most of those drives sit idle most of the time, waiting for their basket's turn in the spooling sequence.

With the BDS:

• One drive unit replaces the rotating machinery in multiple carousel positions
• Baskets become passive structures without drives, controls or power connections
• Expansion means adding baskets and trestles, not complete carousel systems
• All rotating machinery is concentrated in one unit for simpler maintenance
• Floor space and power infrastructure requirements drop significantly

For a storage yard that serves many baskets but doesn't need all of them spooling simultaneously, the economics typically favour BDS.

PASSER delivered the first operational Basket Drive System in 2016 for BP, supporting six 450-tonne carousels. The system was transported to Baku, Azerbaijan in 2020 and used for successful cable installation in that project.

Since then, the BDS has remained in active service across multiple offshore and onshore projects. Competitors have published concepts, but PASSER remains the only manufacturer with field-deployed systems.

Patented system design

The BDS connection mechanism is protected by patent.

Onshore and offshore capability

Designed for use both inside cable manufacturing plants and on offshore vessels, with the same unit handling both environments.

Multi-basket compatibility

The interface fits multiple baskets of customised size and payload, so you're not locked into a single basket configuration.

Our Standard Baskets and Collapsible Baskets can be manufactured with the BDS interface, which means you can add drive capability to existing fleets or plan for future deployment from the start.

Baskets -

Standard and collapsible storage baskets that ship with the optional BDS interface for full system compatibility.

Production Carousels -

Integrated carousel systems for production line applications, with proprietary low-maintenance wheel technology.

Vertical Layup Machines —

Three-core HVAC subsea cable production equipment, the upstream half of a complete cable manufacturing line.