Dutch Heavy Transport Operators Continue to Push the Envelope

Despite the continuing recession in the oil and gas industry, once again in 2016, Dutch heavy transport operators successfully carried out a series of remarkable projects. These successes were not unique to the top segment of the sector, but were also enjoyed by the project cargo sector. A new market segment for these operators is the offshore wind energy sector.

Just like in previous years, market leader Dockwise, a subsidiary of Royal Boskalis Westminster, hit the headlines again in 2016 by carrying out a number of eye-catching transport orders. In April and May, four heavy-lift vessels were deployed to transport a series of large modules, weighing between 4,400 and 10,000 tonnes, for the Clair Ridge project. The journey took the modules from South Korea to a location to the west of the Shetland Islands, and was undertaken by the heavy-lift vessels Triumph, Talisman, Transshelf and Mighty Servant 1. The modules were subsequently installed in the Clair field by the semisubmersible crane vessel Thialf, operated by Heerema

Marine Contractors. One year previously, the heavy-lifters Black Marlin and Mighty Servant 3 had already transferred three modules from South Korea to the Clair field, where they too were installed by the Thialf. Following a number of very impressive transport operations in 2015, including the transfer of the Goliat FPSO and the Armada Intrepid FPSO, the world’s largest heavy-transport vessel, the Dockwise Vanguard was deployed in 2016 to transport a number of semi-submersible drilling rigs, including the Ocean Endeavour, from Constanta in Rumania to Palermo on Sicily. In June, the Transporter was deployed by Dockwise to move the brand-new jack-up drilling rig Maersk Highlander

from Singapore to Scottish waters. Another remarkable transport job involved the 30,000-tonne utility and process module intended for the Hebron project currently being undertaken in Canada, by ExxonMobil. This super module, built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, was transported from South Korea to Trinity Bay in Newfoundland, by the Blue Marlin. Elsewhere, the White Marlin carried the 27,500- tonne Malikai TLP from Singapore to Saba, while the Fjell, Fjord and Mighty Servant 3 were deployed to deliver modules to the Yamal LNG project in Russia. For their part, the Swan and the Tern completed a total of seven transport runs, carrying 29 jackets each weighing 630 tonnes, from Spain to Sassnitz-Mukran in Germany. These jackets would later be deployed in the Baltic as wind turbines foundations for the Wikinger Offshore Wind Farm.

New contracts were also signed during the course of last year, for example for the Norwegian Johan Sverdrup project to transport three topside modules for the riser platform, and a topside module for the processing platform. All of these platform elements are currently under construction at the Samsung Heavy Industries yard in South Korea. Dockwise is set to move these elements, in three transport operations, the first two in 2018 carrying the three riser modules, while in 2019, the Dockwise Vanguard will move the huge topside module for the processing platform to its destination in Norway. Finally, Dockwise recently announced its plans to decommission several heavy-lift vessels and to convert one F-class heavy-lift vessel into an offshore construction/installation vessel. The converted ship will be equipped with a Huisman offshore crane with a lifting capacity of 3,000 tonnes, and offer accommodation to 150 people.

New players Relatively new players on the heavy transport market are the operators Red Box Energy Services based in Rotterdam, and BigRoll Shipping from Leiden. Red Box has launched four heavy transport vessels in quick succession; the semisubmersible heavy transport vessels Red Zed 1 and Red Zed 2, each with a deadweight capacity of 50,000 tonnes, and the ice-class module carriers Audax and Pugnax, both with a deadweight capacity of 28,500 tonnes. This brandnew fleet was immediately deployed to transport modules intended for the Yamal LNG project on the Russian Yamal peninsula. Remarkably, several of the transport runs for this project followed the Northern Sea Route, from the Far East. Red Box Energy Services has signed a contract to transport a total of 264 modules, for the Yamal LNG project.

The other new player in the sector, BigRoll Shipping, is a joint venture between BigLift Shipping and RollDock Shipping, both active in the project cargo sector. Just like Red Box Energy Services, BigRoll Shipping launched four new vessels, in quick succession: in 2016 the BigRoll Barentsz, the BigRoll Bering and BigRoll Baffin and in 2017 the BigRoll Beaufort. All four of these so-called MC-class module carriers were built by the Cosco Dalian Shipyard in China, all have been certified according to the Finnish-Swedish 1A-ice class, and each has a deadweight capacity of 22,500 tonnes. This operator has also signed a multiyear contract for the BigRoll Barentsz and BigRoll Bering to transport modules for the Yamal LNG project. At the start of 2017, the BigRoll Bering hit the headlines by delivering the longest ever module for the Yamal LNG project. The module in question measured 103 metres long, 40 metres wide and weighed 7,300 tonnes, and was also delivered via the Northern Sea Route.

Project cargoes In 2016, the two new K-3000 class vessels operated by Schiedam-based Jumbo Shipping drew most attention to themselves. The 14,000 dwt Jumbo Kinetic and Fairmaster are both equipped with two 1,500-tonne heavy-lift mast cranes from Huisman, and together are the largest vessels of their kind, in the world. In June 2016, the Jumbo Kinetic visited the Netherlands, for the first time. In Rotterdam’s Waalhaven, four large Stan Barges fabricated by Damen were loaded on board by the vessel’s own cranes, before being transferred to Sabetta in Russia. The Jumbo Kinetic then carried a wash tower and reactor to Louisiana, in the United States. Subsequently, together with her sister ship

Fairmaster, the Jumbo Kinetic carried four pile clusters and two buoyancy modules from Dubai to Norway, for use on the Johan Sverdrup project. Each of the pile clusters weighed 1,200 tonnes, and the modules weighed in at 1,400 tonnes a piece. Earlier in the year, the Fairmaster had already transported a towering 1,720-tonne Vertical Lay System (VLS) from La Rochelle in France to Brattvag in Norway, and a 1,911-tonne fractionator, for the Rapid project currently underway in Malaysia, from Nantong in China to Tanjung Setapa. At present, the Jumbo Shipping heavy-lifter fleet comprises ten vessels.

BigLift Shipping from Amsterdam also made serious headway in 2016, with remarkable transport operations. At the start of the year, the Happy Delta carried a total of 13 large steel storage tanks, in the form of deck cargo, from Rotterdam to Jubail in Saudi Arabia. In April, the Happy Star was deployed to move an almost 1,000-tonne wellhead production topside from Ulsan in South Korea to the Yadana gas field off the coast of Myanmar. The module was loaded on board with the vessel’s own heavylift mast cranes. History was written by the Happy Rover, when in a single season the vessel sailed both the Northern

Sea Route and the North West Passage. BigLift Shipping reported later in the year they had placed an order for the construction of a third Happy-S type ship, at the Ouhua yard in Zhoushan, China. This vessel, due to be named the Happy Sun, will be a sister ship to the Happy Star. The Happy Sun will have a deadweight capacity of 18,374 tonnes, and will be equipped with two heavy-lift mast cranes from Huisman, each with a lifting capacity of 900 tonnes. The Happy Sun will be the sixteenth ship delivered to BigLift Shipping.

RollDock Shipping from Capelle aan den IJssel added a third S-class vessel to its fleet in March 2016. The RollDock Sky, a sister ship to the RollDock Sun and RollDock Sea, was also built at the Larsen & Toubro yard in Mumbai, India. The RollDock Sky has a deadweight capacity of 6,405 tonnes. Immediately following handover, the ship was deployed to carry dredging equipment. On 29 March, the RollDock Sky sailed into the port of Rotterdam, for the first time. After a series of alterations, the vessel was then deployed to carry two boiler blocks and two combuster units from Taiwan to Malaysia. Elsewhere, on 8 September, the RollDock Sun

completed the final journey in Australia for the Gorgon project. Over a period of more than four years, the ship has completed 65 trips to Australia, carrying project cargos. The five vessels from the RollDock fleet completed a remarkable number of transport operations in 2016, carrying dredging equipment and other floating materials.

Others In Thailand, Mammoet used 60 axle lines of SPMTs to complete the initial load-outs for a series of modules for the FPSO P-66, due to be deployed off the coast of Brazil. In July, the installation of 20 modules on the FPSO P-76 was started, in Paranagua. For this work, Mammoet deployed its large PTC 200-DS type ring crane, and 78 axle lines of SPMTs. The modules weighed up to 1,935 tonnes each. In mid-February 2017, Mammoet successfully completed the process of weighing, transporting and lifting the modules for the FPSO P-76. At home, Mammoet was responsible at the Heerema yard in Zwijndrecht for the the load-out of the 5,800-tonne Alba B3 topside, and at the Heerema yard in Flushing for the load-out of the 2,600-tonne Alba B3 jacket. In Sabetta, on the Russian Yamal peninsula, Mammoet unloaded 150 modules and 1,200 smaller items

of equipment for the Yamal LNG project. For this work, a staggering 1,700 axle lines of SPMTs were deployed. Never before had so many axle lines been deployed on a single project, anywhere. In January of this year, Mammoet also undertook the load-out of a 14,273-tonne integrated topside module for the Jangkrik Floating Production Unit (FPU) on the Indonesian island of Karinum.

ALE Heavy Lift from Breda completed a whole series of load-out and float-over operations in 2016, including the load-out in China of a 3,500-tonne utility module and a 4,000-tonne living quarters module, in February. In March, ALE was responsible for the installation off the coast of Qatar of both modules via the float-over method. The heavy-transport specialist had previously completed three similar float-over operations in the Gulf of Mexico. July saw the load-out of a 30,000-tonne Cat-J jack-up drilling rig in South Korea and the load-out of the Malikai TLP, weighing 27,500 tonnes. The TLP, built in Pasir Gudang in Malaysia, was skidded on board the heavy-lift vessel White Marlin, operated by Dockwise. In October, ALE deployed in Brazil its largest type AL.SK 350 land crane, to install modules weighing up to 3,000 tonnes, on the FPSO P-74 n

One of the four transport operations undertaken in 2016 by Dockwise for the Clair Ridge project. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties)

The BigRoll Barentsz is the first of four MC-class module carriersowned by BigRoll Shipping. (Photograph: BigRoll)

The Jumbo Kinetic is seen here loading four Damen Stan barges in Rotterdam’s Waalhaven, using its on-board cranes. (Photograph: Jumbo)

The Yadana topside module was loaded on board the Happy Star, with the vessel’s own cranes. (Photograph: BigLift)