Caesar backlog filling up
Offshore staff
HOUSTON --Helix's latest deepwater construction vessel, Caesar, will have plenty of work lined up when it enters the company's active fleet in late-2007/early-2008. The $138-million vessel is undergoing conversion at COSCO shipyard in Shanghai.
The company has secured one external contract and one in-house commitment for use of the vessel in 2008. The outside job was awarded by Murphy E&P Co. The operator issued a letter of intent to Helix for installation work on the Thunder Hawk field in Mississippi Canyon block 736 in 6,100 ft (1,859 m) of water.
The contracted workscope includes installation of two 8-in. (203-mm) flowlines and two 12-in. (305-mm) export pipelines, with associated steel catenary risers and pipeline end terminations. The work is scheduled for mid-2008.
"The execution of the LOI for Thunder Hawk constitutes a major milestone forCaesar and our company," says Bart Heijermans, Helix executive VP and COO. "We are very pleased with the level of interest in the vessel and are confident that this asset will become a major contributor to our company and the industry."
Caesar also is scheduled to install the flowline for Helix's Noonan discovery in Garden Banks block 506 in 2,700 ft (823 m) of water. Installation is scheduled for the first half of 2008.
Meanwhile, Helix's deepwater reel lay vessel,Intrepid, completed installation of Shell Offshore Inc.'s Crosby Pastel Pink pipe-in-pipe (PIP) flowline system. This project was the company's first PIP system that it constructed and installed, according to Helix.
The company's workscope included construction and installation of the 4-in. (102-mm) x 8-in. (203-mm) PIP and pipeline-end-termination from Mississippi Canyon block 899 to MC 898 in 4,000 ft (1,219 m) of water. Installation was completed in mid-2007.
4/5/2007