The Dockwise Vanguard with the Goliat FPSO en route for Norway. (Photograph: Flying Focus)
DUTCH HEAVY TRANSPORT OPERATORS AT WORK AROUND THE WORLD by Paul Schaap, PAS Publicaties
Yet again in 2015, Dutch heavy-lift transport operators succeeded in grabbing the headlines with often ground-breaking projects all round the world. The Dockwise Vanguard owned by market leader Dockwise, a subsidiary of Royal Boskalis Westminster, completed a series of particularly remarkable transport operations. In the project cargo transport sector, however, Dutch operators also attracted much attention. What follows is a summary of the key events. It all started in early 2015 when Dockwise carried out an unusual transport operation with the world’s largest heavy transport vessel. On board the Dockwise Vanguard, the 64,000-tonne cylindrical Goliat FPSO was transported from Ulsan in South Korea to Hammerfest in Norway, in just 63 days. The journey took the vessel 15,608 miles, via the Cape of Good Hope. The Goliat FPSO, with a diameter of a staggering 107 metres, was delivered in Norwegian waters via the float-off method. Soon afterwards, the
20
NETHERLANDS OIL & GAS CATALOGUE 2016
Dockwise Vanguard was once again deployed to transport a different FPSO; on this occasion, the 245 metre-long, 60,000-tonne Armada Intrepid, that had to be transported from Rotterdam to Labuan in Malaysia on behalf of Bumi Armada. The same heavy transport vessel was then redeployed to carry the semi-submersible drilling rig Polar Pioneer owned by Transocean, from Alaska where it had completed drilling work for Shell, to Norway. This journey took the vessel through the Magellan Strait.