Judy Maksoud, Houston
Rigdon Marine delivers crewboat for ultra deepwater
Rigdon Marine Corp. added another new generation crewboat to its fleet with the delivery of theRigdon Sailfish in May.
Midship Marine of Harvey, Louisiana, delivered the vessel, which was deployed under long-term contract in the US Gulf of Mexico immediately following a christening ceremony.
TheRigdon Sailfish is 176 ft x 32 ft x 13 ft (53.6 m x 9.8 m x 4 m) and can carry 30,000 gal of water, 34,500 gal of fuel, and has an approved deck loading limit of 230 long tons.
TheRigdon Sailfish was built to ABS Fire Fighting Class I standards and incorporates an ABS classed DPS-1 station-keeping system for enhanced staying power next to offshore structures. The vessel can transport up to 80 passengers.
DSME cuts steel for drillship
In late 1Q, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Heavy Machinery began cutting steel for the first of three drillship orders for Transocean Inc. This drillship is the first of its kind to be built at DSME.
The vessel will be 254.4 m (835 ft) long, 38 m (125 ft) wide, and 119 m (390 ft) deep from the bottom of the drillship to the derrick. It will be capable of drilling to 12,192 m (40,000 ft) in water depths of 3,658 m (12,000 ft), which exceeds the world record of 3,048 m (10,000 ft), DSME says.
DSME expects to carry out the entire project from steel cutting to final installation.
The first of the three drillships is scheduled for delivery in September 2008. It will be installed in the Gulf of Mexico. The first drillship will be immediately followed by the other two projects. Steel cutting for the first drillship will take place in September 2007 and for the second in April 2008.
Yantai Raffles sends FPSO to Rotterdam, wins pipe vessel, semi contracts
In late 1Q 2007, China-based Yantai Raffles Shipyard dispatched the second cylindrical hull form FPSO theSevan Hummingbird to the Keppel Verolme Shipyard in Rotterdam, where process plant installation will take place.
The vessel was transported onboard a dry tow vessel.
TheSevan Hummingbird en route to the Keppel Verolme Shipyard in Rotterdam.
The hull is 65.2 m (214 ft) long and 64.3 m (211 ft) wide. The platform has an oil storage capacity of 300,000 bbl and an offloading capacity of 3,600 cu. m/hr (127,133 cu ft/hr).
In comparison to a conventional monohull FPSO, the cylindrical hull form FPSO uses less surface or “hull steel” to contain the same volume. The weight, at 9,700 metric tons (10,692 short tons), is considerably less than that of a conventional FPSO with the same storage capacity, Yantai Raffles says. A further advantage is that the unit is less sensitive to wave induced motions.
Later this year, theSevan Hummingbird will be installed on the Chestnut field in the central UK North Sea on contract to Venture Production Plc.
Yantai Raffles previously delivered the hull for the Sevan stabilized platform (SSP)Piranema, the world’s first round shaped FPSO, which will operate in the Piranema field offshore Brazil. A third round FPSO is under construction.
In late March, Yantai Raffles won a $78-million contract to build a flexible fall pipe bulk carrier for Dutch dredging, offshore, and marine construction company Van Oord.
The company says the new vessel is designed as a bulk carrier and can alternatively be operated as a DP flexible fall pipe vessel to carry out subsea rock installation, including the stabilization, protection, and covering of cables, pipes, and flow lines; free span correction; upheaval buckling prevention; and filling in holes around platforms, structures, and rigs.
The vessel measures 175 m (574 ft) long, with a 26-m (85-ft) beam and an operating draft of 10.7 m (35 ft). It has accommodations for 52 and has a maximum working depth of about 2,000 m (6,562 ft).
Built to ABS and Bureau Veritas standards, the vessel is contracted to operate in European waters, but will be capable of operating worldwide, Yantai Raffles says.
Delivery is expected in 4Q 2008.
In mid-April, the yard signed a contract to build a third semisubmersible rig for Norwegian firm Awilco Offshore Semi ASA.
Awilco exercised an earlier contractual option to build the GM4000-D rig, which will have a dynamic positioning system, accommodation unit and ballasting system designed to support duties including intervention and drilling.
Dubbed theWilPromoter, the vessel will be deployed in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea upon completion.
Yantai is building two semisubmersible rigs for Awilco. The rigs have been awarded long term drilling contracts by Norsk Hydro Produksjon AS, which recently extended the contracts for the semis, plus options at a cost of $2 billion plus mobilization.
Rig modifications are to be completed in time for theWilInnovator to be delivered by the end of 2008 for a mid-2009 start. The WilPromoter, scheduled for 4Q 2009 delivery will be on contract in mid-2010.
Noble signs semi deal
Noble Corp. indirect subsidiary Noble Drilling Services Inc. signed a letter of intent in late March with a Marathon Oil Corp. subsidiary for theNoble Bingo 9000 Rig 4 semisubmersible hull for a two-year contract.
The semi, which will be renamed theNoble Jim Day, will be completed as a DP-3 unit designed to operate in water depths to 3,658 m (12,000 ft). The unit’s operational design will follow that of the Noble Danny Adkins, under construction in Singapore. The company expects that Marathon will use the Noble Jim Day in the US Gulf of Mexico during the initial two years of service.
The semisubmersible is in the Jurong Shipyard in Singapore, where the company intends to complete the construction program. Noble expects the rig to be delivered in 4Q 2009.
Sealift refloats MV Sealift Transporter
Sealift’s first heavy transport vessel, MVSealift Transporter, undocked on March 21, 2007, to undergo final modifications.
The MVSealift Transporter floated out of Cosco’s dry dock in Nantong, China, after being fitted with the new midship section.
The vessel is scheduled for delivery in May 2007.
