Offshore staff
ABERDEEN, UK -- Advanced Production and Loading (APL) AS has awarded First Subsea a contract to supply mooring connections for a disconnectable submerged turret production (STP) buoy in the Chinook-Cascade field in the Gulf of Mexico. It will be moored in 2,500 m (8,202 ft) of water.
The STP buoy will be used by an FPSO supplied and operated by BW Offshore, on behalf of Petrobas, due to come into operation in 2010. First Subsea is supplying 11 Series II ball and taper Ballgrab mooring connections with a minimum breaking load (MBL) of 6,600kN. The buoy will feature Ballgrab female uni-joint connectors on its underside.
Once the STP buoy has been positioned in the field, all the male mooring line connections, linked by chain to the seabed, are connected to the female connectors subsea by ROV. This is a safer connection technique than traditional surface connection methods, says First Subsea.
Pre-installing the Ballgrab female connectors on the buoy will also make it easier to lift the buoy from the installation vessel into the water, without the need to support mooring lines, the company says.
Delivery of the STP buoy system for the Chinook-Cascade field is expected in April and the installation campaign will begin soon after.
01/29/2009
