Subsea flexible composite tube and method of manufacture

Subsea umbilical composite tube comprising at least a thermoplastic liner, a composite reinforcement layer and a thermoplastic cover. The liner may comprise nylon, polyethylene, cross-linked polyethylene or polyethylene-raised-temperature. The cover may comprise high density polyethylene. The reinforcement layer maybe comprise glass or carbon fibres embedded in a thermoplastic or thermoset matrix. The matrix material may be nylon, polyethylene, viny ester or an epoxy/. The reinforcement layers may comprise a series of combined composite layers which may have different geometries along the length of the umbilical. There may also be included a pressure barrier and/or a pressure retention layer. The method of manufacturing the umbilical may include bonding processes between the reinforcement and cover layers and/or the liner and reinforcement layers. Pulforming, particularly pulbraiding or pulwinding may be used. Also included are claims to apparatus to perform the method, an umbilical comprising the tube and the use of such an umbilical for fluid transport.