Reply With QuoteI really enjoyed watching that
There have been a few threads over the last few months about incredible feats of engineering, all very interesting, so carrying on the theme here is the 'Pioneering Spirit'.
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This amazing ship was completed last year (at a cost of around half a billion euros) and succesfully carried out her first operation in the North Sea last August.
The ship is specifically designed to remove the topsides of old oil/gas platforms in a single lift. With lots of platforms coming to the end of their useful lives now, the market for the removal of them is said to be worth around 50 billion dollars over the next ten to twenty years and that's just the North Sea.
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Pioneering Spirirt's specs are:
Length overall (incl. stinger) 477 m (1,565 ft)
Length overall (excl. stinger) 382 m (1,253 ft)
Length between perpendiculars 370 m (1,214 ft)
Breadth 124 m (407 ft)
Depth to main deck 30 m (98 ft)
Slot length 122 m (400 ft)
Slot width 59 m (194 ft)
Topsides lift capacity 48,000 t
Jacket lift capacity 25,000 t
Operating draught 27 m
Maximum speed 14 knots
Total installed power 95,000 kW
Thrusters 12 x 6050 kW non-retractable, fixed pitch, variable speed azimuth type
Dynamic positioning system LR DP (AAA), fully redundant Kongsberg K-Pos DP-22 and 2 x cJoy system
Accomodation 571 persons
Helideck Maximum take-off weight 12.8 t, suitable for Sikorsky S-61 and S-92 helicopters
Deck cranes Special purpose crane of 5000 t (11,000 kips)
Special purpose crane of 600 t (1300 kips)
3 x pipe transfer cranes of 50 t (110 kips)
What stands out from the specs are the incredible beam, she's 124 metres wide and of course the lift capacity of 48 thousand tons.
The lift capacity is achieved by ballasting the ship down to max draft and moving into a position underneath the platform. She then de-ballasts and effectively lifts the platform as water is pumped out of the hull. The heave-compensation system that is used during the 'critical period' of the lift is something to behold.
I would work on this thing for free just to see her in operation and to say that I'd been there.
And the most amazing thing? Allseas also has plans to build a second single-lift vessel larger than the Pioneering Spirit, which it says will be delivered in 2020 and also is aimed at the installation and removal of the largest existing and future platforms, up to a total of 77,000 mt.
I really enjoyed watching that
Brilliant piece of film, thanks for sharing
I presume the legs are removed in separate operation.
Loved that, thanks!
The detailed shots of the active motion compensation system made me sleepy :)
Superb engineering, better than scuttling it at sea
That is superb that! Amazing bit of engineering.
I guess that there are a variety of ways to remove the jacket, probably depends on how big it is.Originally Posted by gettinon
They might use a crane barge like the Thialf.
Or cut it into pieces and use a jack-up vessel with a smaller crane.
Why the fancy cut on the legs, to facilitate mounting on "Iron Lady"? (no sniggering at the back, Haig calm down).
Shell are currently lobbying to leave the legs in situ I believe.
A lot of the northern north sea platforms have a concrete base structure which is probably better left in place as long as it's flushed and cleaned internally....
Very interesting and and I agree an amazing piece of engineering.
I'm currently working on installing a new offshore platform, so very much at the opposite end.
The Brent gravity bases cannot be re-floated (either Condeep or Seatank design) - the buoyancy required to break free from the seabed would make them rise uncontrolled, they would tilt on the way up, and break into pieces.
No pipeline stakeholders would allow them (if successfully refloated) - to cross their pipelines either.
Al
In my previous job I was involved with AllSeas advising on position reference sensors to provide the control inputs for the lift.
Its one amazing piece of equipment.
Dave
So are there are external inputs into the DP system from the heave/lift system? I would imagine that once it is clagged on to the platform then the platform would need to be the primary PME. Interesting.
Then there would be the point at which the lift comes free and they would have to transition over to regular GPS, USBL, taut wire. I know that the Jack-up windfarm boats had the same problem in reverse, the DP system didn't like it when the legs touch bottom.
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I noticed that too. My thought was that it prevented any displacement of the columns during the cut and before the final lift
The whole operation was pretty clever indeed.
Really impressive, enjoyed that, thank you
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A photo of the thrusters being installed to the port bow section in drydock. It was named the "Peter Schelte" back then - before public opinion influenced the change of name. Peter Shelte had a "dubious" war record apparently.
The two sections were floated together, checked, then one section returned to drydock to have an additional 7mtrs added between the hulls (when I took the photo above)
An impressive beast, indeed.
Amazing! Thanks to OP for sharing. I wonder who goes back for the rest of the legs and the drilling shaft?
As an aside, the YME platform that the Pioneering Spirit removed was in the Norwegian sector.
It wasn't strictly-speaking a decommissioned platform, but a massive engineering balls-up that never made it to any kind of production. My push bike has seen more oil. It's currently being dismantled in a yard in Norway.
The legs should be easy enough to remove (relatively speaking). The platform was a jack-up, so there's no jacket to remove.
There are wells drilled out there ready and waiting but the platform had never been hooked up to any of them so that's not a problem.
Last edited by Tony; 18th February 2017 at 12:37.
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