Heavy lift equipment manufacturer Huisman-Itrec has designed, built and installed a pipelaying system for rigid steel pipes for the Stolt-Comex Seaway vessel Seaway Falcon. The system is based on a horizontal firing line on deck and a bent ramp along which the pipeline is lowered into the sea over the vessel's stern. It has been patented by SCS.
The ramp angle can be adjusted to any position between horizontal and vertical to suit the pipleay method required for the particular water depth. This implies that the vessel is capable of performing S-lay operations as well as J-lay with the pipeline entering the water vertically. Welding, however, would still be performed vertically.
Pipelines can be installed in 1,000 metres of water. The maximum pipeline diameter is 12.75-in. Installation of flexible pipelines is also possible through the vessel's moonpool.
The system has a total weight of approximately 300 tonnes and was installed on the Seaway Falcon in Rotterdam harbour in February. In April it was applied for the first time in Norway to connect Statoil's Yme/Beta East satellite field with the Maersk Giant oil production jack-up. This month, the vessel is also due to install 6, 8 and 10-in. production and flow lines for Amerada Hess' Durward-Dauntless project in the UK sector.
Rambiz
Huisman-Itrec has also designed and built a new catamaran type crane vessel for Belgo-Dutch salvage company Scaldis-Van Seumeren. The vessel, named Rambiz, is equipped with two cranes with a combined hoisting capacity of 4,000 tonnes at 68 metres and 3,600t at 82m.
With a draught of only 5.6 metres, the vessel can also operate in inland waters. It was contracted to install the Tagus bridge near Lisbon. However, the owners now plan to market it to the offshore sector, particularly for platform dismantling.
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