Keppel keeps busy
Keppel Verolme BV, a member of Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd., landed a contract from Allseas Group SA subsidiary Solitaire Marine Contractors SA, for a €20-million conversion of the pipelay vessel (PLV),Solitaire.
The PLV was scheduled to arrive in the yard in January for the two-month conversion job.
The work scope includes regular repair and maintenance, painting, installing additional bouyancy tanks and local reinforcements to the vessels structure, replacing stinger sections, and structural and mechanical adjustments to the vessel.
According to Harold WM. Linssen, managing director of Keppel Verolme, “The conversion ofSolitairewill be a fast-track one.”
Earlier this year, Keppel Verolme fabricated and installed adjustable stinger support guides on theSolitaire. The yard also undertook modification work on sister vessel, PLV Lorelay.
ABB supports Kashagan development
ABB won a contract to design and build a self-contained energy support barge to serve the Kashagan offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea.
Working in cooperation with Rolls Royce, ABB Process Solutions & Services SpA will oversee the design and construction of a barge with a total output of 120 MW of electricity for oilfield operators Agip KCO BV.
ABB’s contract scope covers engineering, procurement, construction, and start-up activities as well as various automation and power systems for the 95-m-long barge. The project will be designed at ABB PS&S’s office in Milan. Rolls Royce will provide four 30 MW gas turbine generators sets with dedicated auxiliaries.
When completed in mid 2006, the barge will be towed into position on the Kashagan oil field, 80 km south of Atyrau, Kazakhstan. It will provide full electrical power to the Kashagan offshore installations.
According to Sandy Taylor, BU manager oil & gas for ABB, this contract complements earlier ABB projects for oil production and pipelines in the Caspian region and positions the company at the forefront of technology in a region that is energy rich.
Agip KCO, operator for the group developing the North Caspian Sea PSA, which includes the giant Kashagan field, holds 16.67% interest.
Partners include BG Group, ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc., Total, and Shell with equal 16.67% shares and ConocoPhillips and Inpex, each with 8.33% interest.
New drydocking for world’s largest semi
Rotterdam’s Fairmount Marine recently won a novel contract for drydocking the largest semisubmersible in the world.
Fairmount loaded the 11,200-tonneMata Redonda semi using the 50,000 dwt semisubmersible barge Zhong Ren 3 as the platform.
According to Henk van den Berg, Fairmount president, theMata Redondaloading took place six miles offshore Tampico, Mexico. “This is the first deployment of Zhong Ren 3 as a drydocking platform,” van den Berg says.
A project team from Tampico’s Bosnar Yard completed the maintenance program and associated work early this year.
Hua An, a Fairmount-managed 120-tonne bollard pull tug towed the Zhong Ren 3 to the work site.
Midnight Express finishes trials
Torch Offshore Inc.’sMidnight Express completed sea trials late last year. The sea trials concluded the work associated with the vessel’s conversion and the installation of the company’s patented pipelay system.
The vessel underwent testing in 500 ft of water at Destin Dome block 60 in the Gulf of Mexico. The first stage of the sea trials consisted of extensive testing of the DP systems and the electrical switchboards.
The second stage of the sea trials tested the vessel’s patented pipelay system. The company carried out load testing on the vessel’s hold-off clamp, tensioners, winches, and reel. A test lay completed the trial phase of the program, with the vessel laying 780 m of 6-in. pipe on the seafloor. After laying the pipe, the vessel retrieved the pipe and laid out a secondary route. The vessel abandoned the second layout of pipe, then recovered it with a winch. The final stage included complete recovery of the entire pipeline to the reel and the recovery of the clump weight used in the trial.
Lyle G. Stockstill, chairman and CEO of Torch Offshore Inc. says, “The overall performance of theMidnight Express and the patented pipelay equipment was proven to be capable of all of the design considerations.”