Superior liftboat selected for 30-in. pull in Trinidad
Superior Energy Services’ Marine Division has been contracted by Michels Directional Crossings and BP Trinidad to provide a liftboat for the BP NOEL Project in Trinidad.
TheSuperior Valor, l60-ft liftboat, will run the string necessary to pull a 30-in. pipeline from the beach to BP’s SPM tanker loading facility, located approximately 5 km offshore.
“The vessel will set up in approximately 45 ft of water offshore,” says Jerry Dardar, international safety management system director and international technical coordinator for Superior’s Marine Division.
A pilot hole will be drilled from a unit on the beach to a predetermined exit point,” says Dardar. The drill stem then will be brought aboard theValor and mated to a drilling unit on the vessel.
“After the hole diameter is reached, the liftboat will assist in the pull back of the 30-in. pipeline back through to the beach facility,” he says.
The vessel was transported to Trinidad by a heavy-lift submersible barge. It departed on Oct. 4 from Galveston, Texas, for its 12-day voyage. Once there, the boat was floated off the barge into open waters.
TheValor was chosen for the job due to its large deck load capacity for a 160-ft class vessel. The contract is among the first of international work for Superior’s Marine Division. The company is in negotiations for additional work for the liftboat in Trinidad and Venezuela following the BP commitment. It is anticipated that vessel will remain in international waters for at least six months.