Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published Jul 19, 2022 2:46 PM by The Maritime Executive

Allseas' massive heavy-lift ship Pioneering Spirit has removed an 11,000-tonne platform jacket from Repsol's Gyda field, one of the heaviest jacket-lift jobs ever completed in one piece. 

Pioneering Spirit, the world's largest vessel by displacement, was purpose-built for two specialized tasks - laying pipe and removing/installing platform topsides. She has a unique fast-lift hydraulic system on two forward pontoons, which she uses to rapidly lift and remove an entire topside module in a single evolution (up to 48,000 tonnes).

Until recently, however, she could not lift jackets. To solve that problem, Allseas commissioned two giant lifting beams to mount on Pioneering Spirit's stern, turning her into a 20,000-tonne floating sheerlegs when needed. Uniquely, the legs are hinged and equipped with a jacking system that lowers them back onto deck for transit. This will allow the vessel to pick up a jacket and lay it flat (or at an angle) before heading back to port. The beams give a new purpose to her expansive stern, which was previously set up for mega-scale pipelay operations. 

At Gyda, Allseas' scope of work included removing both the 18,000 tonne platform and the 11,000 tonne jacket. In advance of the job, the team fabricated special bearing brackets and lift trunnions to take the load of the platform. Over the span of 12 days in May, Pioneering Spirit loaded out the platform and related equipment, then delivered it to the quay at Aker Solutions’ scrapyard in Stord, Norway.

To prepare for removal of the jacket, the structure’s 24 foundation piles were cut below seabed level. Hoist blocks connected to the lifting beams were hooked up to  pre-installed rigging and the entire structure was pulled up and prepared for transport. The jacket could not sustain the load if laid down flat, so Pioneering Spirit carried it back into port in a near-vertical position. On Tuesday morning, the jacket was set down directly onto the quayside next to the topside module. 

Over the course of the year to date, Pioneering Spirit has lifted and transported more than 90,000 tonnes of decommissioned and new offshore facilities, including both jackets and topsides. Later this year, it will take on a job in the offshore wind sector, installing a jacket and a transmission platform for a wind farm in the German North Sea. 

Published Jul 22, 2022 7:44 PM by The Maritime Executive

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and the union representing subcontractors reached an agreement at the end of the day on Friday ending a 51-day strike that threatened the financial stability of South Korea’s third largest shipbuilder. Faced with mounting losses and increasing costs for steel and other materials, DSMEs’ financial condition has continued to erode with the largest shareholder suggesting that the company might need to be restructured through bankruptcy. Discussing the shipbuilder’s prospects as the strike dragged on,...

Published Jul 22, 2022 7:41 PM by The Maritime Executive

Investments for the facilities at Damen Shiprepair Curacao, the largest shipyard in the Caribbean, are expected to proceed shortly. The shipyard located on Curacao near the coast of South America is owned by the government and since 2017 has been leased to Damen. The shipyard recently undertook the first project, which was an investment of approximately $1.1 million for the overhaul of the door on one of the yard’s four dry docks. In anticipation of the approval for a broader...

Published Jul 22, 2022 6:56 PM by The Maritime Executive

As sanctions and international isolation begin to take hold for Russia's oil industry, it has begun discounting prices in order to entice new buyers in far-flung markets. But in doing so, according to market intelligence firm Vortexa, Russia has begun to compete directly with Iran and Venezuela for a limited market in undercover oil.  One of the key signs is the movement of fly-by-night tankers from the sanctioned Iranian oil trade into the previously above-board Russian oil export market. According...

Published Jul 22, 2022 6:42 PM by The Maritime Executive

The first large cruise ship bunkered with a blended marine biofuel making the latest expansion of biofuel which has drawn wide support in the commercial shipping industry. The bunkering took place with Carnival Corporation’s AIDA Cruises aboard the AIDAprima and provides a blueprint for the wider cruise sector adoption of alternative fuels. AIDA has long been the pioneer within Carnival Corporation testing made of the new concepts for alternative power and improving environmental performance. The 125,500 gross ton AIDAprima became the...

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