Boskalis, another company that has been active for several years in the decommissioning market, successfully deployed its new crane vessel Bokalift 1 in the North Sea. The L10AD gas production platform was removed from the Dutch sector, while in the British sector, a series of old platforms were removed from the Viking and Vulcan fields. This
removal work was carried out on behalf of ConocoPhillips. In the British sector for platform removal work, Seaway 7 deployed its crane vessel Seaway Strashnov to remove the ST-1 gas production platform, before transporting the topside and jacket to the Dales Voe terminal on the Shetlands, for dismantling by Veolia and Peterson n
MORE NEW HEAVY TRANSPORT RECORDS SET by Paul Schaap, PAS Publicaties
The Dutch heavy transport companies, headed up by market leader Boskalis, continue to amaze the world with ever heavier and more complex transport projects. The world’s largest semi-submersible heavy transport vessel, the Boka Vanguard, which once again in 2019 continued to push boundaries, played an important role. Other Dutch companies operating in the heavy-lift transport market, including Jumbo Shipping and BigLift Shipping, also attracted much attention. In addition, Mammoet was able to strengthen its leading position, with the acquisition of ALE Heavy Lift. In the past, the Boka Vanguard had been responsible for transporting the staggering 90,000-tonne FPSO P-67 from China to Brazil. At the end of 2019, as part of a similar project, this amazing feat was repeated. In this project, the new FPSO P-70, weighing 91,000 tonnes, also had to be transported from China to Brazil. This transport operation indeed further extended the world’s heavy transport record. Earlier in the year, the Boka Vanguard had already attracted much attention by transporting a 28,100-tonne topside module from South Korea to Norway, for the Johan Sverdrup project, a
The jack-up vessel Seajacks Zaratan was transported to Taiwan, on board the Mighty Servant 3. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties)
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NETHERLANDS SUPPLIERS CATALOGUE 2020
journey that took two months. A world first was achieved in the Bahamas, with the on-loading of the more than 300 metre-long cruise ship Carnival Vista, via the float-on method. The azipods of this cruise ship had to be repaired and because no dry-dock facilities were available, the Boka Vanguard was used, instead. The other heavy transport vessels that make up the Boskalis fleet were also responsible for a series of remarkable transport operations in 2019. The Forte transported the Tango FLNG from China to Argentina, the Mighty Servant 3 carried the jackup vessel Seajacks Zaratan from Rotterdam to Taiwan and the White Marlin transported the floatel Endurance from Singapore to Norway. The Black Marlin also attracted attention by simultaneously transporting eighteen inland shipping vessel hulls and a crane barge from China to Rotterdam. Boskalis also completed transport work involving a series of jack-up and semi-submersible drilling rigs and dredging equipment. At the end of 2019, Boskalis reported that the high-end transport market was showing cautious signs of recovery, and that the company was at last becoming less dependent on the spot market. They were also able to sign more long-term transport contracts, including orders for transporting a number of large LNG modules from China to Russia. This particular contract represents two years of work for the heavy transport vessels Blue Marlin and Black Marlin, starting in the second quarter of 2021. A contract was also signed for
