7 minute read
Dutch Offshore Contractors
The world’s largest semi-submersible crane vessel Sleipnir has already set its first world record. (Photograph: HMC)
by Paul Schaap, PAS Publicaties
Once again in 2019, Dutch offshore contractors have pushed their boundaries even further and established new world lifting records with their enormous semi-submersible crane vessels, including the brand-new Sleipnir operated by Heerema Marine Contractors, and innovative pipelay vessels. Their specialist equipment makes it possible to find a solution to any problem, which can then be put into practice, worldwide.
In 2019, the offshore world of course looked forward with real interest to the commissioning of the world’s largest semi-submersible crane vessel. The vessel in question was Heerema Marine Contractors’ (HMC) Sleipnir, equipped with two enormous Huisman cranes, each with a lifting capacity of 10,000 tonnes. This behemoth of a vessel was officially christened at Sembcorp Marine in Singapore on 24 May. A remarkable feature of the Sleipnir is that the vessel is equipped with dual-fuel engines that can operate both on MOG and LNG. In July 2019, Titan LNG successfully completed the largest LNG bunkering operation in the world in Singapore, involving 3,000 tonnes of LNG from the tanker Coral Fraseri, owned by Anthony Veder. This operation enabled the Sleipnir to complete its journey from Singapore to the Mediterranean Sea, via the Cape of Good Hope, without interruption. The vessel was rebunkered in Gibraltar, before setting sail for the Leviathan gas field off the coast of Israel. On arrival, the Sleipnir placed the 15,300-tonne topside for the Leviathan platform onto the jacket previously installed in the sea by HMC’s Thialf. Never before had such a heavy topside module been installed offshore, by a crane vessel. Yet another world
record for the company. The Sleipnir went on to install a second topside for the same project. According to HMC, the Sleipnir installed a total weight of 24,500 tonnes in the Leviathan field, within 20 hours.
Following this impressive performance, the Sleipnir set sail for Brazil to install a 9,300-tonne jacket fabricated at the Heerema yard in Flushing, a 10,500-tonne main support frame and 12,500 tonnes of topside modules, for the Peregrino WHP-C platform. This operation was also successfully concluded around the end of the year. In the meantime, HMC had already signed two new deployment contracts for the Sleipnir, for installation work in the Danish Tyra field, the installation at sea of the P2 jacket for the Norwegian Johan Sverdrup project and the installation of the Hollandse Kust Zuid Alpha HVAC platform in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. For its part, the semi-submersible crane vessel Thialf installed the jacket of the Valhall Flank West platform in April, and the 2,000-tonne topside of this same platform, off the coast of Norway, in June. Elsewhere, the monohull crane vessel Aegir placed the 1,500-tonne J-lay tower, fabricated by Huisman, on board McDermott’s pipelay vessel Amazon, in the Wiltonhaven in Rotterdam. HMC also successfully signed a new contract for the deployment of its monohull crane vessel Aegir in the wind energy sector. As part of this project, 111 wind turbine foundations and two substations are due to be installed off the coast of Taiwan, as part of the Greater Changhuai 1 and 2 wind farms.
Lifting and laying work
Allseas’ innovative single-lift installation/decommissioning and pipelaying vessel Pioneering Spirit enjoyed a very busy 2019. An operational highpoint came in March, with the single-lift installation of a processing platform and utility living quarters topsides, with a combined weight of 44,000 tonnes. The processing platform topside alone weighed 26,000 tonnes, while the utility living quarters topside counted for the remaining 18,000 tonnes. Installation of the processing platform topside was the heaviest single-lift ever executed offshore. This new offshore lifting record was set during the Johan Sverdrup topside installation campaign. At the end of March, the crane vessel Rambiz installed the luffing frame and the crane boom of a 5,000-tonne crane on board the Pioneering Spirit, in Kristiansand. Following this installation work, the vessel was able to set to work laying the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic. A number of other Allseas vessels were also deployed for this project, including the pipelayers Solitaire and Audacia and the deepwater construction vessels Fortitude and Oceanic, together with a fleet of supply vessels. Work on this enormous project continued through to the end of 2019. Last year, the pipelayer Lorelay was deployed laying the Baltic Connector Gas Transmission System between Estonia and Finland, after which the Lorelay and Calamity Jane worked on the P11-B Unity project in the Dutch sector of the North Sea.
Elsewhere, Allseas was actively involved in pipelaying work in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. In 2020, Allseas will be deploying the Audacia and the Oceanic to lay pipes off the coast of Australia as part of Chevron’s Gorgon Stage 2 project. Shortly after Allseas and Technip FMC had agreed to jointly pursue deepwater projects, it was announced that both companies will be
The Pioneering Spirit has offshore executed the heaviest single-lift ever. (Photograph: Allseas)
The monohull crane vessel Aegir will also be deployed in the wind energy sector. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties/maritimephoto.com)
joining Van Oord to undertake a major subsea project on behalf of Anadarko, in the framework of the deepwater Golfinho/Atum Gas Development project in Area 1, off the coast of Mozambique. ConocoPhillips Australia awarded Allseas another pipelaying contract for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of 260 kilometres of gas export pipeline. Finally, Allseas succeeded in signing its first installation contract for the wind energy sector, in July. The contract involves the installation of the DolWin 6 substation, consisting of a 4,200-tonne jacket and an 11,000-tonne topside. This work will be undertaken by the Pioneering Spirit.
Others
The two monohull crane vessels operated by Seaway 7, the Seaway Strashnov and Seaway Yudin, were also heavily occupied throughout 2019. The Seaway Strashnov installed the jacket and topside of a substation for the Deutsche Bucht Offshore Wind Farm in the German North Sea and a caisson support frame structure for the Repsol-operated Yme New Development project off the coast of Norway. This 38 metre-high structure weighed 1,300 tonnes. The Seaway Yudin was occupied last year in the Far East, where it was responsible, among others, for the installation of 20 foundations for the Formosa 1 Phase 2 project.
The Seaway Strashnov was also heavily occupied throughout 2019. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties)
Boskalis has expanded its offshore fleet with the Boka Pegasus. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties) 2019 also saw Boskalis active as an offshore contractor. In May 2019, Boskalis Subsea Contractors announced the signing of a series of new contracts. These included operations for Total’s Tyra project, an IRM campaign for Repsol Sinopec, decommissioning work for Spirit Energy and a scale squeeze scope for Premier Oil. To complete this work, the subsea support and construction vessels Boka Atlantic, Boka Da Vinci and Boka Constructor are all due to be deployed. Boskalis was also awarded a seabed intervention and shore crossing contract for the Woodside Scarborough export gas pipeline in Western Australia. As part of this project, dredging and rock dumping activities will be carried out in 2021 and 2022. Another major project involved the installation and connecting of an offshore Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) near El Salvador, to link up to an electricity generating station on land. This project is planned for 2020 and 2021. In other news, Boskalis has expanded its offshore fleet with the multipurpose dp2 offshore construction vessels Boka Falcon and Boka Pegasus, and the company has acquired full ownership of Horizon Geoscience based in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
Alongside a range of activities in the North Sea region, subsea service provider N-Sea is also hard at work in the Middle East. In 2019, a series of contracts were signed for special projects across this region. The first involved the contract for pipeline repair and pigging operations, followed by a contract for an air diving campaign for a demolition project and finally a contract for spool, clamp and riser installation work.
The position of the Dutch contractors will be further reinforced with the introduction of three semi-submersible heavy-lift crane/accommodation vessels, currently under construction in China. The vessels in question are the OOS Serooskerke, OOS Walcheren and OOS Zeelandia. All will be equipped with Huisman cranes. Operator OOS International has also signed a five-year charter contract with Petrobras, for its floatel OOS Tiradentes n
