Castorone completes deepwater Irpa-Hansteen pipelay offshore mid-Norway

Saipem’s Castorone construction vessel has installed the subsea pipeline for Equinor’s Irpa project in the Norwegian Sea.

The 80-km, 20-inch Pipe-in-Pipe pipeline is in a water depth of 1,350 m, the deepest for any subsea tieback development offshore Norway to date, Saipem said.

It will connect the Irpa gas-condensate field's subsea production system to the Aasta Hansteen spar platform.

In the dual-pipe system, an internal pipeline transports the fluid, protected by the external pipeline. The arrangement is designed to maintain the fluid's temperature as it traverses the seafloor, preventing the risk of hydrates or waxes forming in the cold, deep waters.

Castorone finished installation activities on July 22, after 84 days, supported by logistics from the port of Sandnessjøen. There, the prefabricated pipe joints and equipment were loaded onto support vessels and then delivered to Castorone.