Ampelmann Secures North Sea Decommissioning Project
Dutch offshore access solutions provider Ampelmann said it has made another step forward in the field of decommissioning with a recently secured contract in the Southern North Sea.An E-type gangway system has been installed on the Olympic Orion vessel to carry out a two-month campaign for end client Spirit Energy to prepare the Audrey platform for decommissioning.The E-type is the largest fully motion compensated system within the Ampelmann portfolio. Operating globally, it has enabled more than 300,000 safe personnel transfers in the Oil & Gas (O&G)…
Ampelmann Six New North Sea Contracts
Offshore access solutions provider Ampelmann said it has strengthened its position in the North Sea this year after being awarded four new contracts and two extended scopes of work in the basin.The projects will see six E-type gangway systems deployed for planned shutdown campaigns and ongoing fabric maintenance support by different major operators across the UKCS.Utilizing motion compensation technology, Ampelmann’s E-type is the largest system in the company’s portfolio and is ideally suited for the harsh environment of the North Sea, able to compensate high sea states up to 4.5m Hs.The gangway…
Double Bibby Win for MDL
Maritime Developments (MDL) has won a flex lay project with Bibby Offshore just after completing an umbilical installation with the EPIC contractor.The recently concluded project in a North Sea gas field used the MDL RDS-400, a 400-mertic-ton reel drive system, operated by MDL offshore personnel and supported by the company’s 3mradius departure chute.
MDL Awarded Umbilical Installation Project
U.K. based Maritime Developments said it has won a flex lay contract on a major gas field in the Mediterranean Sea.The project, due to start in 2019, will cover installation of an umbilical connecting the production wells to a fixed offshore processing platform.The work will be carried out using MDL TTS-4/310 Series Tensioner, a 110-metric-ton unit, operated by MDL personnel, as part of the MDL Offshore Service.According to MDL, the system will allow safe and efficient handling of the product thanks to its 5m track length and wide cylindrical track opening for passing of umbilical end fittings.
GustoMSC Evolves Chela the "Smart" Crane
Nearly two years ago GustoMSC introduced a smart crane for lifting and wireline operations under the drilling cantilever. Two years later, following industry feedback and further development, the equipment has evolved into Chela, named after the Greek word for a crab’s claw. Chela offers an extra hand in operations, and due to its crablike motion characteristics, it can reach below the cantilever as well as elevate towards the main deck, providing crane access to an area traditionally blocked by the cantilever when drilling. Three key elements to…
Maersk, McDermott Complete Contract off India
Maersk Supply Services said it has completed the first contract for one of its Stingray-Class newbuild subsea support vessel, Maersk Installer, with McDermott. Maersk Installer joined the project in January 2018, supporting the Vashishta development off the East Coast of India.This part of an ongoing development project by India's largest oil and gas exploration company, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation. The contract utilized the Stingray's advanced capabilities, including its stationary DP3 to work in these challenging waters, and its 400t AHC crane with large outreach to load and install rigid jumpers. The result was a subsea installation campaign for the Vashishta development.
Sparrows Group Awarded Two Dubai Petroleum Contracts
Sparrows Group said it has strengthened its operations in the Middle East, securing two crane contracts with Dubai Petroleum, one for maintenance services and the other for the delivery of rental cranes. The first contract, for five-year’s crane maintenance services, covers 76 cranes across all of Dubai Petroleum’s offshore fields. Sparrows will provide maintenance and engineering support for all cranes and associated systems and deliver a maintenance strategy, with technical personnel working on-site including a dedicated crane operator instructor. The contract has been re-awarded to Sparrows after they previously held it for 14 years until earlier this year.
Ampelmann Gangway System Increases Operational Efficiencies
Ampelmann has enhanced its existing E1000 gangway transfer system to speed up conversion of its gangway from personnel to cargo mode from at least ten minutes to less than one minute, providing greater operational efficiencies. The innovative and adaptable E1000 motion compensated access system can transform from a gangway into a crane boom. It is 30 meters in length and is capable of safely transferring people and up to 1,000 kilograms of cargo in rough sea states in wave heights up to 4.5 metres. The enhanced, automated system now employs remote-controlled hydraulic pin pushers to fixate the gangway booms in less than one minute with a single button.
ACE Winch Solution for DolWin Topside Float-over
ACE Winches said it has mobilized and installed a winch package for use on the jacket installation and float-over of the DolWin Topside platform, one of the world’s largest high voltage direct current (HVDC) converter platforms, generating enough power to provide approximately 1 million households with clean energy. Measuring 100m in length, 70m wide, standing 90m and weighing approximately 15000te, the platform is located in the German Bight of the North Sea. ACE Winches supplied a winch solution which was used in conjunction with the jacket installation and float-over of the topside…
Containerized Control Room Delivered for SSCV Thialf
ELA Container Offshore GmbH delivered an offshore office container to Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC), a marine contractor in the international offshore oil and gas industry. The container was placed on board semisubmersible crane vessel (SSCV) Thialf and was used as a control room to operate their anchor winches. The Thialf is HMC's largest SSCV, capable of a tandem lift of 15,600 tons. Its two cranes provide for a depth reach lowering capability as well as a heavy lift capacity to install topsides. This multi-functional dynamic positioned SSCV is customized for the installation of foundations, moorings, SPARs, TLPs and integrated topsides, as well as pipelines and flowlines.
ACE Winches' Mooring System on the Iron Lady Barge
ACE Winches has mobilized a six point mooring system to anchor the Iron Lady Barge being used on the Brent decommissioning project. The equipment, designed and manufactured by ACE Winches at its global headquarters in Turriff, Aberdeenshire is now in situ and being supported by a team of ACE Winches offshore personnel. ACE Winches manufacture a range of standard and bespoke drum winches, available in single or double drum configurations. Drum winches are designed to be utilized for hoisting, deployment, mooring and general pulling applications and, depending on the size and power requirement, can be hydraulically, electrically or pneumatically driven.
New Crane for Offshore Wind Turbine Repair
Huisman said it has developed a new lightweight crane type for the maintenance of offshore wind turbines: the 'Foldable Offshore Crane'. The crane combines unparalleled lifting heights and more than sufficient lifting capacity with a foldable boom resulting in less required deck space and a low own weight of the crane, Huisman said. The selection of this crane for the maintenance of offshore wind turbines will therefore require a smaller, and thus more cost effective, jack-up vessel than currently required. David Roodenburg, Director Strategy and Business Development said…
New Drill Ship Equipped with AHC Drilling Platform
Newly launched multipurpose drill ship FREJA integrates a high-performance active heave compensated drilling platform manufactured by MacArtney. The drilling setup on board the vessel has been designed to provide enhanced drilling conditions even in rough seas. A customized, motion-compensated working platform of 10 times seven meters is situated amidships. This means that the working deck remains stationary while the vessel follows the movements of the waves. The platform design includes a roll function compensating for the vessel rolls by +/- 7 degrees.
MacGregor Wins Davit systems Order for Two SOVs
MacGregor has won davit orders for two low-emission 81m service operation vessels (SOVs) designed to act as 'mother-ships' for wind turbine technicians. The contracts have been placed by Spanish shipyard GONDAN, responsible for the construction of the SOVs. The order was booked in Cargotec's 2016 third quarter order intake. The SOVs have been ordered by Norwegian operator Østensjø Rederi. They will serve UK-headquartered DONG Energy's Race Bank and Project One offshore wind farms in the North Sea. Each vessel will be fitted with a MacGregor HMD G110…
MacGregor 3D Motion Compensator Enhances Load-Handling Precision
MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has introduced the 3D Motion Compensator (3DMC), a flexible retrofit device, which is designed to enhance the load-handling precision of an offshore crane even in challenging sea states. "MacGregor's standard active heave-compensation (AHC), supplied through a crane's winch, compensates for a vessel's vertical movements. However, when very accurate load positioning is required, such as landing loads on small fixed platforms, the 3DMC is a fantastic new option," says Alexander Nürnberg, Senior Vice President, Technology and R&D, MacGregor. The 3DMC can be fitted to the knuckle jib of a broad spectrum of new or existing MacGregor subsea/offshore cranes.
Palfinger Wins Deck Equipment Package
Palfinger Marine signed a contract with Turkish shipyard Cemre to supply a deck equipment package to a Havyard 832 MPV vessel being built for Esvagt. The package from Palfinger consists of cranes, winches and offshore equipment. The MPV will measure 81.9 x 17.16 m, with a deck area of 620 sq. m., a speed of 15 knots and a bollard pull of 100 tons. The delivery of the equipment is scheduled for 2017.
Two High-tech SSCVs Ordered in China
Holding OOS International Group B.V. confirms it has signed a fixed contract for the engineering and construction of two new build Semi-Submersible Crane Vessels (SSCV) with China Merchant Industry Holdings, a fully owned subsidiary of the China Merchant Group. “OOS took a quantum leap within the oil and gas/wind Industry,” said Léon Overdulve, Founder and owner of Holding OOS International Group B.V. OOS will equip its two new SSCVs named OOS Serooskerke and OOS Walcheren with two heavy lift cranes, with a total dual lifting capacity of 4,400T per vessel.
Fiber-rope Retrofit Extends Subsea Crane Capabilities
MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has launched a fiber-rope retrofit option for its subsea cranes; the modular upgrade replaces the crane's original steel wire rope with synthetic fiber rope, using the same technology as MacGregor’s fiber-rope crane, the FiberTrac 1500, introduced earlier this year. These cranes combine MacGregor's offshore crane technology with the fiber-rope tensioning technology perfected by Parkburn Precision Handling Systems. According to MacGregor, fiber rope’s advantage when used in this context is that it weighs virtually nothing in water, so regardless of the length of rope paid out; it does not add anything to the load experienced by the crane.
Palfinger Cranes Ordered for Unmanned Platform
PALFINGER MARINE has been awarded a contract from Heerema Fabrication Group in Zwijndrecht for delivery of two cranes for an unmanned platform. The platform will be operated by Statoil at Oseberg Vestflanken 2, and is an unmanned and remote-controlled wellhead platform with ten well slots. A jack-up drilling rig, Cat-J, will be employed to perform the drilling activity. This project is expected to mark a new phase in the North Sea field developments where traditional subsea infrastructure can be replaced by unmanned wellhead platforms (UWP). This new crane design is developed for projects where the time interval between crane operations can be up to a year.
Maritime Consolidation: Palfinger Aims to Acquire Harding
As maritime markets continue to struggle, merger and acquisition activity should heat up. Today, Austria's Palfinger Group announced that it intends to acquire 100% of the shares in Herkules Harding Holding AS and thus, the globally operating Harding Group. The seller is the Norwegian private equity fund Herkules. Harding is a leading suppliers of lifesaving equipment and lifecycle services for maritime installations and ships. Through this acquisition, PALFINGER will add new products and an international service network to its marine business. Subject to the positive outcome of the due diligence audit and the final negotiations…
