Video: “Pioneering Spirit” successfully installs 22,000 t platform topsides for Equinor

Video and Photos: Allseas©

Monday 4 June 2018 

Allseas’ single-lift installation/decommissioning and pipelay vessel “Pioneering Spirit” marked another milestone on 2 June 2018 with the safe and successful installation of the 22,000 t Drilling Platform topsides for Equinor’s Johan Sverdrup development on the Norwegian continental shelf.

This was the first platform installation job performed by Pioneering Spirit, and the heaviest installation ever executed in a single lift offshore to date.

Pioneering Spirit’s motion-compensated topsides lift system beams accurately positioned the topsides on an eight-legged steel jacket standing at 110 m water depth, after which the installation went exactly as planned.

The 147 m tall topsides was transferred to Pioneering Spirit by barge in Bømlafjorden, outside Stord, on 1 June. The vessel arrived nine hours later in the Johan Sverdrup field, located 160 km west of Stavanger, Norway, and operations commenced immediately.

The actual installation, from manoeuvring around the jacket, setting down the topsides and moving out of the 500 m zone, only took three hours.

The Drilling Platform topsides is the first of three structures Pioneering Spirit will install during the Johan Sverdrup field’s first development phase.

The vessel will return to the field in the spring of 2019 to install the 26,000 t Process Platform topsides and the 18,000 t Living Quarters platform topsides. 

Watch the video and pictures below:

Media enquiries: 

Contact:
Jeroen Hagelstein, Manager PR,
+31 6 52 03 33 66,
jha@allseas.com

Kristian Hall, Communications Officer,
+31 6 24 13 62 12,
kha@allseas.com

About Allseas:

Allseas Group S.A. is a world-leading contractor in offshore pipeline installation, heavy lift and subsea construction. The company employs over 3000 people worldwide and operates a versatile fleet of specialised heavy-lift, pipelay and support vessels, designed and developed in-house.

More information about Allseas is available at www.allseas.com

Moving above the jacket offshore

Factsheet 

Allseas Swiss-based Allseas Group S.A. is a world-leading contractor in offshore pipeline installation, heavy lift and subsea construction.

Founded by Edward Heerema in 1985, the company employs over 3000 people and operates worldwide with a fleet of specialised heavy-lift, pipelay and support vessels, designed and developed in-house.

“Pioneering Spirit” “Pioneering Spirit” is the world’s largest construction vessel, designed for the single-lift installation and removal of large oil and gas platforms and the installation of record-weight pipelines.

The vessel has a topsides lift capacity of 48,000 t and jacket lift capacity of 20,000 t. The twin-hulled, 382 m long, 124 m wide vessel was designed in-house, and built in South Korea by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (2011–2014) at a cost of €2.6 billion (US$3 billion).

“Pioneering Spirit” commenced offshore operations in August 2016 with removal of the 13,500 t Yme mobile production platform from Norwegian waters.

The vessel redefined heavy lifting in April 2017 with the single-lift removal of Shell’s iconic 24,000-t Brent Delta topsides from the North Sea.

Also built to lay record-weight pipelines in all water depths, “Pioneering Spirit” has an S-lay tension capacity of 2000 t, thereby surpassing Allseas’ own “Solitaire” as the world’s largest pipelay vessel. Between June 2017 and May 2018, the vessel installed more than 1100 km of pipeline across the Black Sea for the TurkStream project, where depths reach 2200 m. Never before has such large pipe been laid at such great depth.

What is next After Johan Sverdrup, “Pioneering Spirit” will return to the Black Sea to lay the remaining 700 km of TurkStream pipeline for SouthStream Transport B.V.

In 2019 the vessel will return to the Johan Sverdrup field to install the 26,000 t Process (P) platform topsides and 18,000 t Living Quarters (LQ) platform topsides for Equinor, and remove the Valhall QP topsides for Aker BP and the Brent Bravo topsides for Shell, both in the North Sea. Page 2 of 3 

Dimensions

Length overall (incl. stinger and lifting beams)  :  477 m 

Length : 382 m 

Width : 124 m 

Bow slot length : 122 m 

Bow slot width : 59 m 

Operating draught : 10-27 m 

Installed power : 95,000 kW 

Maximum speed : 14 knots 

Accommodation : 571 persons 

Topsides lift capacity : 48,000 t 

Jacket lift capacity : 20,000 t 

Displacement : ~1,000,000 t at full draught (27 m) 

Watch the video of the Johan Svedrup Drilling Platform installation in 8x original speed below: