Special projects thanks to Dutch offshore contractors

Dutch offshore contractors once again succeeded last year in completing a series of remarkable large-scale offshore installation projects. The work ranged from major pipeline projects through to the installation of jackets and topsides of platforms. No matter how complex or extensive, with their special installation vessels, the worldwide-operating Dutch offshore contractors are able to come up with a suitable solution for any project. Below is a summary of the most spectacular projects completed.

Although investments in the oil and gas sector remained at a low level in 2018, in line with the past few years, a series of eye-catching projects did have to be carried out. These included the laying of two 930 kilometre-long gas export pipelines across the Black Sea for Gazprom’s TurkStream project. Via these 32-inch diameter pipelines, each with a transport capacity of 15.75 billion cubic metres of gas per year, Russian gas is to be pumped into Europe. Allseas made a start on the laying work way back in May 2017. The first TurkStream pipeline was completed on 30 April 2018, and the project was

In less than three hours, the Pioneering Spirit installed the topside of the Johan Sverdrup drilling platform.

(Photograph: Allseas)

In less than three hours, the Pioneering Spirit installed the topside of the Johan Sverdrup drilling platform. (Photograph: Allseas)

successfully concluded in November 2018. The Audacia was responsible for the pipelay work in the shallow sections, and the Pioneering Spirit in the deepwater sections of the Black Sea. The maximum water depth was a staggering 2,200 metres. On average, the Pioneering Spirit nonetheless succeeded in laying 4.3 kilometres of pipeline a day, with peaks on certain days of 5.6 kilometres. On Sunday 26 August 2018, the vessel in fact set a new record by laying 6.3 kilometres of pipeline in deep water in a single day. The performance was proof for Allseas that this single-lift installation/

decommissioning vessel is also ideally suited for pipelaying work.

Elsewhere, on 5 September 2018, Allseas started laying two export gas pipelines for the North Stream 2 project on behalf of Gazprom, in the Gulf of Finland. The two pipelines in question will run for 1,200 kilometres right across the Baltic, from Russia to Northern Germany. The first vessel to be deployed for this work was the pipelayer Solitaire. She was joined in October by the Audacia, and in December the Pioneering Spirit. The pipelayers from Allseas are assisted in this ambitious project by the company’s own offshore support vessels Oceanic and Fortitude. As part of the Baltic Connector project, in the summer of 2018, Allseas also installed a new 81 kilometrelong gas pipeline across the Gulf of Finland between Estonia and Finland. In the framework of the Leviathan gas project, Allseas also won the contract in 2018 to lay 500 kilometres of pipeline in the Mediterranean Sea.

The topsides of the Johan Sverdrup riser platform have been installedby the Thialf. (Photograph: Statoil/Bo B. Randullf/Roar Lindefjeld)

Johan Sverdrup project A real milestone was the installation of the platform sections of the Johan Sverdrup complex operated by Equinor in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The main players in this project were Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) and Allseas. HMC set to work with the Thialf, the world’s largest semi-submersible crane vessel, while Allseas deployed its already mentioned Pioneering Spirit. The offshore installation work was started in July 2017 with the installation by the Thialf of the 26,000- tonne jacket for the riser platform. In April 2018, the Thialf was also responsible for the installation of the three topsides of the riser platform, with a total weight of 23,000 tonnes, and of the 21,300-tonne jacket for the drilling platform. In September, the Pioneering Spirit swung into action to install the 22,000-tonne topside of the drilling platform. This job was in fact completed in less than three hours. It was the first platform installation job by the Pioneering Spirit, and the heaviest offshore single-lift installation executed, to date. The Thialf went on to install the linking bridge between the two platforms. But that was not the end of the project for the Thialf. In September, in quick succession, the jackets for the processing platform and the utility and living quarters platform also had to be installed. These jackets weighed 17,700 tonnes and 7,600 tonnes respectively. In 2019, the Pioneering Spirit will once again see action to install the 28,000-tonne topside of the processing platform and the 19,000-tonne topside for the living quarters platform. Finally, the Thialf

The deepwater construction vessel Fortitude operated by Allseas wasdeployed on the Nord Stream 2 project. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties)

will install the linking bridges. All in all, the project will represent a prime example of installation work by these renowned Dutch offshore contractors.

Other projects Another major project in which HMC’s Thialf played a leading role off the coast of Norway was the Martin Linge project for Equinor. In a deployment lasting less than five days, the crane vessel successfully installed four large modules on two jackets at the Martin Linge complex. These included a 9,580-tonne utility module, a 10,850-tonne process module, a 2,170-tonne living quarters module and a flare module. In the Gulf of Mexico, HMC was responsible for the deep water tow out and installation of Shell’s Appomattox floating production platform, while for 2019, HMC has been contracted to install the jacket and topside of the

Leviathan gas production platform in the Mediterranean Sea. As part of this project, the Thialf will first position the jacket. Later in the year, the brand-new semi-submersible crane vessel Sleipnir will be deployed to install the topside. Equipped with two 10,000-tonne Huisman cranes, the Sleipnir will be the largest semi-submersible crane vessel of her type, in the world. After completing the installation work in the Mediterranean, the Sleipnir will transfer to the Danish sector of the North Sea where she will be responsible for the transport and installation of a new production and living quarters platform for the Tyra Future project. The two large monohull crane vessels operated by Seaway Heavy Lifting, the Seaway Yudin and the Seaway Strashnov, were for their part heavily involved in installation work for the offshore wind energy sector in 2018.

Others Royal Boskalis, for years an active player in the offshore industry, announced in May 2018 that the well-known names of its subsidiary companies Dockwise, VBMS and Fairmount were set to disappear. Instead, their activities

are to be integrated in the service portfolio for the offshore energy market under a single brand name, Boskalis. In October, Boskalis announced that it has been awarded the contract for the Tyra Development Subsea Installation Phase II by Total E&P Denmark. This extensive contract involves subsea engineering, procurement, production and installation activities. The aim of redeveloping the Tyra field is to extend its operational service life by 25 years. The vast majority of the work will be carried out by the large diving support vessel Boka Atlantis. At the start of 2019, Boskalis was awarded a further multiyear contract for subsea services in the Middle East.

The US oil and gas company Anadarko has chosen a consortium consisting of Van Oord and Technip FMC as its preferred tenderer for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the offshore subsea system for its Mozambique LNG project. Throughout 2018, the Dutch contractors Boskalis, Van Oord and Tideway (now DEME Offshore) with their flexible fallpipe vessels were involved in a series of rock installation projects for the oil and gas industry and the offshore wind energy sector n