IRO members continue to push boundaries
By Paul Schaap, PAS Publicaties
Now the oil companies and major contractors are once again willing to make investments, the approximately 400 IRO members have fully regained their confidence in the future of the offshore oil and gas sector. This is reflected by the fact that many new projects are now - or soon will be - on the stocks. These projects include the design and fabrication of innovative mobile offshore drilling units, heavy-lift vessels, crane vessels, pipelay vessels and dredgers. The wishes of the fast-growing offshore wind energy sector in terms of the design and fabrication of various types of service vessels and platforms are also being met with considerable verve. In line with tradition, Dutch companies are once again involved worldwide in various ground-breaking projects.
Despite the recession, the Dutch contractors and suppliers have survived well. Their wealth of knowledge and experience, innovative capacity and their willingness to spread their wings to any corner of the globe were key elements in their success. Above all the Dutch design and engineering companies have received considerable attention. This applies particularly to GustoMSC, with both Diamond Offshore Drilling and Noble Drilling announcing their intention to have two drillships of the type GustoMSC P10.000 fabricated at the Hyundai Heavy Industries yard in South Korea. These vessels are to be handed over to the two American drilling contractors in 2013. Two more drillships of the same type are currently under construction at the South Korean yard, on behalf of Metrostar/Odfjell. These two vessels will be handed over later this year. At the end of 2010, the same yard handed over the GustoMSC P10.000 type drillship, the Deepwater Champion, to Transocean. A further two drillships are also under construction at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore. These vessels, the Bully I and Bully II are of the type PRD12.000, yet another design from the GustoMSC drawing board.
During the course of 2010, various yards in the Far East handed over six semi-submersible drilling rigs based on designs from GustoMSC, including the Maersk Deliverer, the third and final rig in a series of three type DSS-21s. Also in the Far East, three jack-up drilling rigs of the successful types CJ46 and CJ70 were handed over.One eye-catching handover was made to Seaway Heavy Lifting by IHC Merwede Offshore & Marine. The vessel in question was the state-of-the-art monohull crane vessel Oleg Strashnov, of the type HLV5000. Unique features of this vessel are the innovative hull shape and the transit speed of 14 knots. The 183 metre-long ship has a fully revolving offshore derrick crane with a lift capacity of 5,000 mt. This is twice the lift capacity of SHL's Stanislav Yudin monohull crane vessel. In China, on behalf of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, a deepwater pipelay vessel/crane vessel is being fabricated, once again according to a Dutch design. This vessel will be christened the Hai Yang Shi You 201, and is due to be handed over later this year. Finally, GustoMSC is enjoying massive interest in its different types of jack-up wind turbine installation vessels. At the Cosco Nantong yard in China, for example, the MPI Adventure and MPI Discovery, both of the type NG-7500/6 are being fabricated for Vroon Offshore Services' subsidiary MPI Offshore, while a type NG-9000C vessel is under construction on behalf of A2SEA. Another three installation vessels of the type NG-9000C and one of the type NG-5500C are on the stocks at various Middle Eastern yards. Two of these are intended for Fred Olsen Windcarriers and one for Seajacks International. And just before the end of last year, Drydock World handed over the Swift 10 (formerly JB-117), a jack-up platform of the type MSC Sea 3250, intended for Swift Drilling.
The monohull crane vessel Oleg Strashnov was also fabricated on the basis of a GustoMSC design. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties)
Other engineering firms
Ulstein Sea of Solutions based in Vlaardingen drew much attention with the development of the concept and basic design for Heerema Marine Contractors' new dp3 monohull deepwater construction vessel Aegir. After HMC had decided to have this state-of-the-art vessel fabricated at DSME in South Korea, the Korean yard asked Ulstein Sea of Solutions to also undertake the further engineering of the vessel. The Aegir will be fabricated according to the Ulstein SOC5000 design. The ship will be 211 metres long, and will be fitted with a crane with a lift capacity of 4,000 mt. As well as for installation work, the Aegir can be deployed as a pipelay vessel. The vessel should be operational by mid-2013.
A DLS4200 design from Ulstein Sea of Solutions for a derrick lay vessel is also being fabricated in China for the Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Company. This 197 metre-long monohull vessel will be equipped with a crane with a lift capacity of 4,200 st (3,800 mt). Finally, last September, Keppel Singmarine in Singapore delivered the first of two deepwater derrick pipelay vessels of the type Ulstein SOC600 to Global Industries. This first monohull vessel bears the name Global 1200, is 162 metres long and has a crane with a lift capacity of 1,200 tonnes. The sister ship, the Global 1201, will be handed over in the third quarter of this year.
Offshore Ship Designers from IJmuiden, renowned for their designs of tugs, platform supply vessels, anchor-handling tug supply vessels and safety standby vessels, launched a new offshore wind farm maintenance vessel concept in January 2011. This Sea-Wind vessel design is for a mother ship which can remain on station in offshore deepwater wind farms, providing a safe haven for a series of catamaran workboats to carry engineers to service the turbines. This dp2 submersible dock ship has a large floatable dock, accessible from the stern. The 187 metre-long vessel of the type IMT 9552 WFMV can accommodate up to 200 engineers.
The fleet of Vroon Offshore Services is to be expanded with the addition of a whole series of IMT 955L ships, including the VOS Seeker. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties)
Dutch shipyards
For the fourth time in quick succession, IHC Merwede Offshore & Marine has completed an offshore vessel for Subsea 7. The vessel in question this time was the Seven Pacific, a 131 metre-long pipelay and construction vessel capable of installing flexible pipes and umbilicals in water up to 3,000 metres deep. Huisman supplied a 260-tonne vertical lay system, twin underdeck carrousels and a 250-tonne heave compensated knuckleboom crane for the Seven Pacific. In the past, the yard had already supplied Subsea 7 with the Seven Oceans (pipelay vessel), Seven Seas (pipelay and construction vessel), and Seven Atlantic (diving support vessel). Also at its yard in Krimpen aan den IJssel, IHC Merwede Offshore & Marine fabricated the monohull crane vessel the Oleg Strashnov for Seaway Heavy Lifting, and a whole series of advanced dredging vessels was launched from various other IHC yards in the Netherlands.
At the Damen yards, a whole series of Stan Tugs, Azimuth Stern Drive Tugs, Azimuth Tractor Tugs, Shoalbusters and Multipurpose Pusher Tugs once again came off the stocks in 2010. Damen supplied the anchor-handling tug supply vessel Brodospas Beta to the Split-based operator Brodospas, a sister ship to the Brodospas Alfa handed over by Damen in 2009. Both vessels generate 12,000 bhp of power and a bollard pull of 150 tonnes. A similar vessel, the Med Dieci, was delivered to Med Offshore based in Naples. All three ships are of the Damen AHTS 6615 type. In Brazil, a series of platform supply vessels were fabricated under licence for an operator based in that large South American country. Damen has also been highly successful selling fast crew suppliers with an axe bow and a unique hull shape.
Fleet renewal and expansion
As in previous years, Vroon Offshore Services has continued to renew and further expand its fleet, in 2010. The Indian Cochin yard, for example, handed over the dp platform supply vessels VOS Precious, VOS Prelude, VOS Premier and VOS Prevail, in quick succession. All these vessels, measuring almost 74 metres in length, are of the type UT 755LN. The Chinese Fujian yard, for its part, handed over the anchor-handling tug supply vessels VOS Hera, VOS Hyperion, VOS Hecate and VOS Tethys. These four ships generate 5,150 hp of power and produce a bollard pull of 66 tonnes. In total, the Fujian yard will be building twenty of these vessels for Vroon, together with two additional subsea support vessels due to be christened VOS Shine and VOS Sweet. Also in China, at the Cosco Nantong yard, the wind turbine installation vessels MPI Adventure and MPI Discovery are under construction for Vroon subsidiary MPI Offshore. In 2010, the Spanish Astilleros Zamakona yard handed over the field support vessels VOS Endeavour, VOS Enterprise and VOS Endurance. These vessels are numbers 10, 11 and 12 in a series of fifteen to be built at the yard on behalf of Vroon, all of the type IMT 955L. Finally, South Boats on the Isle of Wight has built the MPI Rucio, a catamaran wind turbine maintenance vessel. Two more vessels of this same type are currently on the stocks at the yard. Both will be added to the MPI Offshore fleet later this year, and are to be christened the MPI Dorothea and MPI Dulcinea.
Fugro has taken delivery of the brand-new seismic vessel Geo Coral. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties)
Leidschendam-based Fugro also expanded its offshore fleet in 2010, with the new-built seismic survey vessel Geo Caspian, one of the largest and most advanced seismic vessels ever built. This ship is 108 metres long and is able to tow a total of sixteen streamers each with a length of 8 kilometres. The Geo Caspian is the third C-class vessel built for Fugro, since 2007. Previously, the Geo Caribbean and Geo Celtic had joined the fleet. Last August also saw the handover of the fourth seismic vessel from the series, christened the Geo Coral. All these seismic vessels are employed by Fugro-Geoteam. Fugro Survey, for its part, expanded its fleet with the new-built survey vessel Fugro Searcher, a vessel capable of carrying out hydrographic and geophysical survey work. A similar vessel due to be called the Fugro Galaxy is still under construction. Last June, Fugro announced its intention to continue investing in new survey vessels. Against that background, two build orders have already been placed at a yard in India, and two at a yard in Singapore.
The Noordhoek Pathfinder is one of the two new additions to the Noordhoek Offshore fleet. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties)
Noordhoek Offshore from Zierikzee took delivery last year of the dp2 diving support vessel Noordhoek Constructor and the dp2 ROV survey vessel Noordhoek Pathfinder. The Noordhoek Constructor is equipped with a single bell 12-persons saturation diving system supplied by Seatac Underwater Systems and a 100-tonne Kenz offshore crane. The Noordhoek Constructor was fabricated in Japan according a design from De Hoop based in Lobith. This Dutch shipyard also supplied the design for the Noordhoek Pathfinder and actually fabricated the ship at its yard in Foxhol. Both vessels have been in continuous service since their handover, last year. The company bade a fond farewell to the celebrated dp2 diving support vessel Noordhoek Singapore that is now operating in West African waters on behalf of a new owner under the name Singapore Inspector.
Heerema Fabrication Group
A whole series of remarkable construction orders was completed by various yards of the Heerema Fabrication Group, and new orders were also placed on the books. Heerema Zwijndrecht delivered a remarkable performance with the fabrication of the 11,000-tonne super module for the Valhall Re-development Project undertaken for BP Norway. This integrated production and accommodation deck is 100 metres long, 47 metres wide and 50 metres high. Following the successful load-out, the sail-away took place on 12 June 2010. For this same project, the yard fabricated a 2,000-tonne weatherdeck module, a 350-tonne flareboom and a number of bridges and stair towers. The handover of the innovative mobile F3-FA gas production platform, fabricated by Heerema Flushing for Centrica Energy, also drew much attention. This so-called self-installing platform is fixed to the seabed using four large suction anchors. HFG undertook this ground-breaking project together with partners SPT Offshore from Woerden and Iv-Oil&Gas from Papendrecht. The F3-FA platform has now been installed 240 kilometres north of Den Helder, and has been producing gas since the start of this year.
The load-out of the F3-FA platform for Centrica Energy at Heerema Flushing. (Photograph: HFG)
Another eye-catching project was successfully concluded on 17 May 2010 at Heerema Hartlepool. This project involved the completion of the 6,500-tonne Buzzard production sweetening deck, fabricated for Nexen Petroleum UK. The platform was subsequently installed in the British sector of the North Sea on a 3,500-tonne jacket previously fabricated by Heerema Flushing. In September, the same yard handed over two topsides modules, each weighing 1,000 tonnes, intended for the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm Project being carried out in British waters. The Heerema Fabrication Group was also awarded a number of new orders. On behalf of RWE Dea, for example, unmanned platforms are being built for the Clipper South Development Project and the Breagh A Development Project, at Heerema Flushing. The Clipper South platform, consisting of a 2,000-tonne deck and an 1,160-tonne jacket, will be handed over at the start of 2012. The Breagh A platform, comprising a 1,400-tonne deck and a 4,000-tonne jacket will then be completed in the third quarter of 2012. Both platforms will be installed in the British sector of the North Sea. At the yard in Flushing, the Valemon jacket is also to be fabricated, for Statoil. This jacket will be 157 metres high and will weigh 9,200 tonnes. It is the largest jacket ever built at the Flushing-based yard. The planned handover date is May 2012. HFG Engineering had previously carried out a FEED study for the Valemon project, and Heerema Marine Contractors subsequently won the contract to transport and install this gigantic jacket on location.
BP's 11,000-tonne Valhall super module was fabricated at Heerema Zwijndrecht. (Photograph: HFG)
Other construction yards
On 17 June 2010, the load-out of Total's K5-CU platform took place at HSM Steel Structures in Schiedam. This platform consists of a 670-tonne jacket, an 850-tonne topsides and was built according to a design from Iv-Oil&Gas based in Papendrecht. Installation in the K5 field in the Dutch sector of the North Sea was carried out in August 2010 by the crane vessel Thialf operated by Heerema Marine Contractors. The HSM yard also acquired two new fabrication orders, the first for the B13 satellite platform for Chevron, consisting of a 1,050-tonne four-legged jacket and a 1,000-tonne topsides. This platform will also be built according to a design from Iv-Oil&Gas, and is to be installed in the B13 field in the Dutch sector of the North Sea, by Seaway Heavy Lifting, in mid-2011. The second order was for the fabrication of a transformer station for C-Power/ABB. This station will weigh 2,200 tonnes and is intended for the Thorton Bank Wind Farm Project to be undertaken off the coast of Belgium.
At Keppel Verolme, large-scale maintenance was carried out on the semi-submersible drilling rig Paul B. Loyd, Jr. (Photograph: Keppel Verolme))
Mercon Steel Structures from Gorinchem also earned two new orders. On behalf of GDF SUEZ E&P Nederland, the yard is fabricating the G16a-B satellite platform, to be handed over in mid-2011. This platform consists of a 950-tonne jacket and a 1,250-tonne topsides. Hertel based in Rotterdam will be building the power module for this same platform. The offshore installation has been contracted to Seaway Heavy Lifting. Shortly after this order was signed, Mercon entered into a framework agreement with Shell UK and NAM for the construction and installation of monopile platforms known as Riser Access Towers. Together with ALE Heavylift based in Breda, an innovative method has been developed for the offshore installation of these platforms. The NAMI yard in Ridderkerk won the order for the fabrication of Wintershall's Wingate satellite platform. This platform will be installed in mid-2011 in block 44/12b in the British sector of the North Sea. The gas to be produced via this platform will be brought ashore in Uithuizen near Delfzijl, via the Dutch NGT pipeline network. Den Helder-based Multimetaal also received an order from Wintershall, for the construction of a large subsea protection frame, weighing 100 tonnes. A large quantity of pipework will then have to be installed in this frame. Wintershall needs the frame to be delivered this year to the K18 block in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. On behalf of GDF SUEZ E&P Nederland, Multimetaal also built a number of work platforms for the D15-A platform, and a boat landing construction for Wintershall's Q8 platform.
Offshore repair yard
During the first few months of 2010, the Keppel Verolme yard in Rotterdam was hard at work completing the repair and modification work on the semi-submersible pipelay vessel Castoro Sei. The pipelay vessel was modified at the yard for deployment in the Nord Stream Project in the Baltic. At the same time as completing work on the Castoro Sei, far-reaching renovation work was also carried out on the large semi-submersible drilling rig Stena Don operated by Stena Drilling. This renovation included attaching four large blister tanks to the columns and two sponsons to the rig's floaters. Repairs were also carried out on the Lorelay and Calamity Jane operated by Allseas Marine Contractors and the crane vessels Stanislav Yudin and Oleg Strashnov operated by Seaway Heavy Lifting. Transocean's semi-submersible drilling rig Paul B. Loyd, Jr. also underwent major maintenance. Other projects included extension of the cantilever on the jack-up drilling rig ENSCO 102 and maintenance and repair work on the semi-submersible drilling rig GSF Arctic III and the jack-up drilling rigs GSF Magellan and GSF Monarch, all three operated by Transocean. Similar work was undertaken on a series of jack-up platforms for the Sliedrecht-based Jackup Barge, and the jack-up drilling rig Swift 10, owned by Swift Drilling was fitted with a 270-tonne cantilever fabricated by Cofely Oil & Gas. An important new order for Keppel Verolme involves the fabrication of a mobile transport platform for Global Tech 1 Offshore Wind GmbH. This platform will be the centrepiece of the Global Tech 1 offshore wind turbine farm currently being built off the German North Sea coast. The design of this platform is based on the Mobile Offshore Application Barge (MOAB) concept. This is the second occasion that Keppel Verolme has fabricated a platform based on this concept. The first project, in 2005, involved a gas compression platform that following handover was installed in the Trent field in the British sector of the North Sea.
Fairstar's Fjord with the topsides of the Danish Halfdan platform. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties/maritimephoto.com)
Even more new building
On 16 June, Allseas awarded the building contract for the dp platform installation / decommissioning and pipelay vessel Pieter Schelte to Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. in South Korea. This innovative vessel will be 382 metres long and 117 metres wide, and will have a topsides lift capacity of 48,000 tonnes and a jacket lift capacity of 25,000 tonnes. The pipelay tension capacity will be 2,000 tonnes, twice the capacity of Allseas' Solitaire, thereby surpassing her as the world's largest pipelay vessel. The Pieter Schelte will be handed over in 2013. Last year, the Seafox Group entered into a joint venture and construction agreement with Keppel FELS in Singapore, for the self-propelled dp2 jack-up installation vessel Seafox 5. Operator Workfox intends to deploy the Seafox 5 for support and installation services in the offshore wind sector and in the oil and gas industry. The Seafox 5 will be equipped with a crane with a lift capacity of 1,200 tonnes.
The Dutch dredging contractors are also highly active with new-build projects. Van Oord, for example, is soon to take delivery of the brand-new flexible fallpipe vessel Stornes, currently being fabricated in China. This 175-metre long vessel will have a load capacity of 27,000 tonnes and will be the fourth and largest fallpipe vessel in the Van Oord fleet. For the same dredging company, the Athena and the Artemis are currently under construction at the yards of IHC. These vessels will be among the most modern and powerful self-propelled cutter suction dredgers in the world. Van Oord is also to have an innovative and advanced transport and installation vessel built, for deployment in the offshore wind energy sector. The 139 metre-long jack-up vessel will be handed over in September 2012. Another Dutch dredging company, Boskalis, aims to expand its fleet with a new-built dp2 flexible fallpipe vessel. This 159 metre-long vessel is currently under construction at the Keppel Singmarine yard in Singapore. A new dp2 fallpipe vessel is also due to be handed over to Tideway Offshore Contractors. This 155 metre-long vessel will be christened the Flintstone, and is being fabricated at the Sembawang yard in Singapore. Tideway has already received an order for the deployment of this new vessel, for rock installation work around the Priraziomnoya oil production platform due to be installed later this year southwest of Nova Zembla in the Barents Sea. Finally, Stemat Marine Services took delivery this year of the Stemat Spirit, a unique cablelay vessel to be used for the construction of offshore wind turbine farms.
Heavy-lifting and transport work
Artist's impression of the latest super-heavy lifter for Dockwise. (Illustration: Dockwise)
The Dutch IRO members are also key players in the transport and heavy-lift market. Market leader in the top segment is Dockwise based in Breda. This operator stunned the sector last November by announcing its intention to have the world's largest self-propelled semisubmersible heavy-lift transport vessel fabricated in China. In February 2011, a build contract was signed for this vessel with Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea. This so-called ‘Type O' vessel will be 275 metres long, 70 metres wide and will offer a transport capacity in excess of 100,000 tonnes. Dockwise expects to take delivery of this behemoth by the end of 2012. Several months earlier, Dockwise had already announced the signing of an agreement with China Offshore Oil Engineering Company for management of the new 50,000 tonne dwt heavy-lift vessel set to be launched in February 2012. The Breda-based operator also attracted much attention with the implementation of the Vyborg Project. As part of this project, the heavy lifter Talisman first transported a 15,000-tonne platform hull from Vyborg in Russia to Koje in South Korea. At the South Korean Samsung yard, the 19,400-tonne topsides had already been skidded on board the Blue Marlin, by ALE Heavylift. Following its arrival, the hull was unloaded, anchored and ballasted to a maximum draught of 27 metres. During the subsequent float-over operation, the Black Marlin was precisely positioned between the hull columns, whereupon the topsides and hull of the first Gazflot platform were successfully linked together. On 30 July 2010, this unique floating float-over operation was successfully concluded. Several months later, the operation was repeated for the second Gazflot platform. For this project, Dockwise deployed its heavy lifter Treasure to transport the hull, and the Blue Marlin for the floating float-over operation. Another operation that attracted considerable attention was the transport of a total of eighteen modules intended for the Koniambo Nickel Project in New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Transporting these towering modules from China was entrusted to the vessels Transporter and Trustee, and was carried out between August and November. The Mighty Servant 3 was subsequently deployed in tackling the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Artist's impression of HMC's deepwater construction vessel Aegir. (Illustration: HMC)
Fairstar Heavy Transport based in Rotterdam is another operator active in the top segment. These heavy transport specialists also have plans to expand their fleet with new-built vessels. The vessels in question are two 50,000 tonne dwt heavy-lift transport vessels, the Forte and the Finesse, both due to be handed over in 2012. Fairstar was also in the news with the transport of the jacket and topsides of the massive Danish Halfdan oil production platform. These two sections were transported on behalf of Heerema Marine Contractors from China to the Danish sector of the North Sea by the heavy lifters Fjell and Fjord. A transport contract was also signed with Chevron Australia and Kellogg, to carry modules and materials intended for the Gorgon LNG Project on Australian's Barrow Island.
The drill tower built by Huisman for the Bully II drillship was transported to Singapore on board the Jumbo Vision. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties)
Various IRO members are active in the project cargo market, including Jumbo Shipping from Rotterdam and BigLift Shipping from Amsterdam. There was much interest for the Jumbo Javelin. This dp vessel was deployed last year for the transport and offshore installation of transition pieces for wind turbines. During the summer period, in record time, this vessel carried 131 transition pieces for installation in British waters, in the Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Park. Jumbo Shipping also demonstrated that even in the face of strong currents, it is entirely possible to carry out subsea installation work. This skill was demonstrated on the test site of the European Marine Energy Centre in England. At the test site, the heavy lifter Fairplayer demonstrated the installation of an 1,100-tonne generator on the seabed, in strong tidal currents. The Fairplayer is equipped with a deepwater deployment system capable of installing loads offshore, in water depths of up to 3,300 metres. The Fairplayer was also involved last year in the transport of five large floating tanks from Finland to the Gulf of Mexico. On arrival, the ship had to install these tanks, together with five freestanding hybrid risers at a depth of 2,500 metres, in the framework of the Cascade & Chinook Ultra Deepwater Project. In April, the Jumbo Jubilee carried four 700-tonne spudcans, each with a diameter of 21 metres and a height of 8 metres, from Dubai to Arendal in Norway. The Jumbo Vision transported the drill tower built by Huisman for the Bully 2 drillship from Schiedam to Singapore.
The wind turbine installation vessel MPI Resolution was fitted with a 600 mt crane at Huisman. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties)
BigLift Shipping is on the verge of considerably expanding its fleet. Work is underway at the Chinese Ouhua yard on the fabrication of five new 17,520-tonne dwt heavy lifters. This series of Happy-D vessels will be christened Happy Delta, Happy Diamond, Happy Dover, Happy Dragon and Happy Dynamic, and all have been designed on the basis of the D-gracht vessel type produced by BigLift's parent company Spliethoff. The new heavy lifters will be 157 metres long and equipped with two 400-tonne cranes and one 120-tonne crane. At the Hazira yard in India, two Happy-S vessels are also on the stocks, for BigLift Shipping. These 18,860 dwt heavy lifters will be christened Happy Sky and Happy Star, and each will be equipped with two 900-tonne cranes, capable of lifting maximum loads of 1,800 tonnes, in tandem. The Happy Buccaneer drew much attention by carrying out a remarkable installation project. Just off the coast of Western Australia, near Perth, the vessel used its own loading equipment to install two 400-tonne concrete seawater inlet towers. The colossal elements are part of a seawater desalination plant.
Special products
Amongst IRO members, a wide variety of businesses develop hugely innovative products for the oil and gas industry. Leaders amongst them are Huisman based in Schiedam, a company that has established a reputation with the design and fabrication of a range of offshore cranes and pipelay systems. As previously described, Huisman built and fabricated innovative box type drill towers for Noble's Bully I and Bully II drillships. Following handover, Huisman signed a contract with Noble for the delivery of the drilling equipment on board Noble's new deepwater drillship Globetrotter 2. A contract was also previously signed for the delivery of the drilling equipment on Noble's Globetrotter I drillship. Huisman will furthermore supply all mission equipment for Heerema Marine Contractors' new deepwater construction vessel Aegir, including the 4,000 mt offshore mast crane and a pipelay tower for both J-lay and reel-lay operations in ultra-deep water. Huisman has also fabricated the 3,000 st crane for the monohull crane vessel Sapura 3000 and a 5,000 mt crane for the monohull crane vessel Borealis. At the start of this year, the wind turbine installation vessel MPI Resolution was fitted in Schiedam with a new 600 mt crane. .
Artist's impression of the wind turbine installation vessel currently under construction for Van Oord. (Illustration: Van Oord)
IHC Hytop announced in November 2010 that its riser pull-in package successfully pulled in the first three risers on a MODEC FPSO deployed off the coast of Brazil. Offshore Solutions celebrated the successful completion of its five-year contract with NAM in the southern North Sea. During this period, the Offshore Access System (OAS) has enabled more than 31,000 shore-to-work transfers to be made from a moving ship to a fixed platform, without a single incident. Offshore Solutions, together with GDF SUEZ E&P Nederland, received the prestigious GDF SUEZ Grand Prix de L'innovation in the category ‘Field Innovation'. The oil company has been working for some time with an OAS installed on board the platform vessel Rem Mermaid. Since the end of 2010, another OAS was installed on board the Bourbon Gulf Star, a dp2 platform supply vessel deployed by Qatar Shell GTL Ltd on the Pearl Gas to Liquids (GTL) Project in Qatar. Offshore Solutions is also to supply an OAS for the new monohull accommodation vessel operated by Edda Accommodation (Malta) Ltd.
The platform supply vessel Rem Mermaid is equipped with an Offshore Access System from Offshore Solutions. (Photograph: PAS Publicaties)
ABUCO based in Middenmeer has started the serial production of so-called Ampelmann telescopic gangways. Bayards Aluminium Constructie built an aluminium hangar for BP's Valhall platform - the first time ever that a hangar has been built for an offshore platform using only aluminium. An impressive series of aluminium helicopter decks was also once again supplied for new drillships, fixed platforms, FPSOs and special workboats. Seatools last year won the largest order in its history. In fulfilling this contract, the Numansdorp-based company will be responsible for the design and fabrication of an innovative ROV for a new fallpipe vessel for Boskalis. The project will be for a combination of a survey ROV and a rockdump ROV.
Contractors on the move
In conclusion there are a number of projects in which Dutch contractors play a key role, for example in relation to the ambitious Nord Stream Project in the Baltic. The world's largest pipelay vessel Solitaire operated by Allseas will be deployed in this project, to lay 342 kilometres of pipeline. Boskalis will then once again be called in to complete rock-dumping operations on the two 1,220 kilometre-long Nord Stream pipelines. The work will involve the laying down of rock banks. The project will be one of the largest independent rock-dumping contracts ever undertaken for the protection of offshore pipelines. The work will be carried out in a joint venture operation, during which two or three fallpipe vessels will be deployed. Tideway Offshore Contractors are also involved in the work. As far back as 2009, Boskalis and Tideway carried out joint seabed interventions, in preparation for the two Nord Stream pipelines.
Boskalis was also involved in bringing ashore the gas pipes at Greifswald in Germany, while Van Oord was responsible for the Russian end of the pipelines at Vyborg. Van Oord has also been heavily involved in carrying out EPC contracts for the installation of offshore wind turbine farms. Off the Dutch coast, this work included the construction of the Princess Amalia Wind Farm and the Belwind Phase I Offshore Wind Farm, off the Belgian coast. At the start of this year, a contract was signed with BARD-Netherlands for the installation of two 300 MW wind farms, 55 kilometres north of the Dutch Wadden island of Schiermonnikoog.
The world's largest pipelay vessel Solitaire, operated by Allseas, is deployed in the Nord Stream Project. (Photograph: Nord Stream AG)
SBM Offshore has signed a letter of intent from Petrobras Netherlands and Petroleo Brasilero for a twenty-year charter and operation of an FPSO for the Tupi Nordeste Development Project off the coast of Brazil. SBM Offshore has also extended contracts with Total E&P for the deployment of the LPG FSO Nkossa II and the FSO Unity, in West African waters. Fugro in turn signed a long-term contract for diving work on behalf of Petrobras in Brazil.
By no means all the products and services offered by IRO members have been mentioned in this article. However, the article does paint a good picture of the diversity of the activities that IRO members carry out for the oil and gas industries worldwide. Other sections of this IRO Catalogue contain ample information about all the IRO members and other Dutch suppliers to the oil and gas industries.
