BW Energy's Maromba Field development reached a key milestone with completion of a major lifting campaign to convert the former VALARIS 247 jackup drilling rig into a fixed wellhead platform for future operations offshore Brazil.

Mammoet completed heavy lifting operations for BW Energy's Maromba B wellhead platform conversion project at Drydocks World Dubai. The former VALARIS 247 jackup drilling rig is being repurposed as a wellhead platform for the Maromba field development in Brazil's Campos Basin.

Under contract to Drydocks World, Mammoet supplied engineering, equipment and personnel to lift and install nine rig leg extension sections.

Heavy-lift challenge

The work scope involved three legs, each featuring three triangular sections weighing about 105 t and measuring 10.2 m tall and 16.2 m wide.

It was the first deployment of the CC 8800-1 Boom booster crane configuration in the UAE; the crane was configured with a 120-m main boom and a 96-m luffing jib to achieve the hook height and lifting capability needed to safely install the leg extension sections.

The Boom Booster, fitted to the crane's main boom, provided the extended lifting, allowing heavy components to be raised to greater heights and at longer working radii without having to bring in a larger crane.

The project, which included lifting studies, ground bearing pressure calculations and detailed execution procedures, increased the height of all three rig legs from 175 m to 205 m, sufficient for the converted platform to operate at its future offshore location.