Lankhorst Offshore marks rope production milestone

Oct. 8, 2019
Lankhorst Offshore has produced more than 2 million meters (6,561,660 ft) of mooring lines over the past 10 years at its factories in Portugal and Brazil.

Offshore staff

VIANA DO CASTELO, Portugal – Lankhorst Offshore has produced more than 2 million meters (6,561,660 ft) of mooring lines over the past 10 years at its factories in Portugal and Brazil.

This milestone was achieved during production of the mooring lines for the FPSO Energean Power, which will operate at the Karish and Tanin gas fields offshore Israel.

The company manufactures deepwater mooring lines based on Cabral 512 polyester ropes. They use high efficiency sub-rope cores laid parallel within a filter system and an outer braided jacket. Each sub-rope is monitored during rope manufacture to ensure all sub-ropes have equal tension and length.

Typically, Cabral ropes include seven to 18 sub-ropes dependent on the mooring project; each sub-rope is a braided construction, giving a 100% torque free rope, the company said.

According to the company, it has set world records for the highest minimum breaking load mooring ropes ever produced, and the first polyester ropes manufactured with cut resistant jacket using Dyneema fiber for the Goliat FPSO for Eni Norge (now Vår Energi).

In addition, the company said it was the first to produce a double layer cut resistant jacket with Dyneema fiber for the Aasta Hansteen spar for HHI-Technip.

Rui Faria, senior vice president Oil & Gas Synthetics, Lankhorst Offshore, said: “Two million meters of deepwater mooring line is an important manufacturing milestone that reflects not only our production capability but also our technical and engineering skills and expertise.

“Compared with our first mooring lines, our production is more streamlined allowing us manufacture ropes that are lighter, stronger and in many cases more durable to withstand the rigors of 30 years deployment in often congested subsea environments.”

From its Brazilian manufacturing facility in Queimados, Rio de Janeiro, the company has led the development of the Cabral 512 deepwater mooring rope and its deployment for major offshore Brazil presalt oil field development projects for Petrobras, SBM Offshore, APL, SOFEC, Teekay, and OOGTK.

At its manufacturing facility in in Viana do Castelo, Portugal, the company has integrated larger reels into its rope production processes. This allows multiple mooring rope segments per reel, streamlining mooring system deployment offshore.

10/08/2019