Ampelmann Produces Winterized Offshore Gangway

On April 14, 2016, offshore access solutions company Ampelmann and Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. signed an agreement to install and operate a winterized version of an Ampelmann’s motion compensated gangway system. This system will be capable of safely and efficiently transferring work crew up to -28 degrees Celsius, therefore supports Sakhalin Energy’s requirements to continue maintenance and increase offshore POB year round in the Sakhalin-2 field.

 

The winterized Ampelmann, project name “Icemann”, will be installed on one of Sakhalin Energy’s new ice breaking support vessels of which delivery is due next year. Ampelmann will engineer and build this bespoke, unique in the world system for its launching customer Sakhalin Energy. The contract duration will be for 10 years. The system will have to deal with extreme icing, vibrations and vessel motions, while maintaining a safe, efficient and reliable means of transfer. In addition, Sakhalin Energy will charter a standard, non-winterized version of the Ampelmann motion compensated gangway for 5 years, to be installed on a second ice breaking support vessel and to support the personnel transfer requirements during the summer period.

 

Ampelmann CEO, Jim Craig, said, “We are delighted to have reached this next milestone in our cooperation with Sakhalin Energy, which started in 2013. Since then, Sakhalin Energy has been using our service to support the summer operations with the intention to gain experience with our system. This ultimately has now resulted in this long term commitment for year round personnel transfer support. We thank Sakhalin Energy for their trust and cooperation and look forward to many safe transfers in these harsh conditions.”