InterMoor Delivers H-Links Connectors for Appomattox FPS

InterMoor, a provider of mooring services, foundation solutions and offshore installations in subsea services group Acteon, completed the delivery of all H-Links connectors for the Appomattox Floating Production System (FPS) mooring lines.

The Appomattox facility will be a four-column semi-submersible production platform moored using 16 mooring lines arranged in 4x4 clusters, in 2,255m (7,400ft) of water approximately 130km (80 miles) offshore Louisiana. The platform will become Shell’s largest floating platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

Collaborating with Oceanside Equipment Ltd out of Nova Scotia, InterMoor delivered 94 H-Links to Shell in Fourchon, Louisiana. InterMoor provided project management services, vendor coordination including quality and safety control, audit reviews, and production schedule management. In conjunction with this, Oceanside Equipment also completed the design, manufacturing plan specification (MPS), inspection and test plan (ITP) and documentation for the H-Links.

The H-Links were specifically designed for deepwater application and were machined, assembled, tested and delivered from InterMoor’s quayside facility in Aberdeen. Approximately 800 tonnes of steel were used to manufacture the 94 H-Links with a minimum breaking strength of 2,675 t (5,896,900 lbs). Each H-link weighed on average 7 t (15,653 lbs) and measured about 2m (6ft. 7in.). This order represents the largest order of H-Links by weight ever delivered by InterMoor and Oceanside. The H-Links will be used to connect polyester mooring segments to chain segments and between adjacent polyester mooring segments on the FPS mooring lines.

Mark Prentice, Technical Manager, InterMoor Ltd, said: “Continuing the extensive track record InterMoor and Oceanside have for deepwater mooring connectors, this recent shipment of H-Links has been the culmination of 3 years of extensive design, analysis, manufacture and testing by both companies.  Working closely with the classification societies and the client’s inspectors has resulted in the largest, strongest H-Links ever fully certified for long term mooring in the Gulf of Mexico.”