The Pioneering Spirit successfully executed her maiden heavy-lift project. (Photo: Allseas)
GROWING VOLUME OF WORK FROM RENEWABLES SECTOR FOR DUTCH OFFSHORE CONTRACTORS by Paul Schaap, PAS Publicaties
As well as occupying a leading position in the oil and gas installation market, over the past years, Dutch offshore contractors have also more than earned their spurs in the wind energy sector. Wherever offshore windfarms are built, one or more of these companies inevitably plays an important role. And as things look now, the same development is set to take place in the offshore decommissioning market. Allseas, Heerema Marine Contractors and Seaway Heavy Lifting, in particular, have attracted attention in this market. Without doubt, the innovative single-lift installation/ decommissioning and pipelaying vessel Pioneering Spirit operated by Allseas attracted most attention in 2016. Following an intensive installation, commissioning and testing period for the topside lifting system in Rotterdam’s Alexiahaven, the vessel set to sea on 6 August 2016 to perform offshore trials which included a series of test platform topside installation and removal exercises, in varying weather conditions. Following the successful 14
NETHERLANDS SUPPLIERS CATALOGUE 2017
completion of these sea trials, the vessel set sail for the Norwegian Yme field to undertake its first large-scale topside removal operation. The removal involved the 13,500-tonne topside of the Yme Mobile Offshore Production Unit (MOPU) owned by Repsol. On 22 August, the Pioneering Spirit successfully executed her maiden heavy-lift project. The Yme topside was then transported to the Lutelandet base in Norway, before the Pioneering Spirit once again set course for the port of Rotterdam.
