Industry News - Asian Oil & Gas Reports - Fast forward to floatoversFast forward to floatovers
from: Asian Oil & Gas
by: David Morgan
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Warming up for the upcoming extension of its activities into topside floatover work, J Ray
McDermott's newly modified Intermac 650 barge was deployed recently for the launch of
the largest jacket yet built in China. David Morgan reports.
A launch/cargo barge marketed
worldwide, the Intermac 650 has been
modified primarily for the planned
floatover installation of Thai operator
PTT Exploration & Production's Arthit
deck, which is being fabricated at the
McDermott Batam Island facility in
Indonesia and will be installed in the Gulf
of Thailand.
The 650ft long, Panama-flagged barge
now has a nominal deck float-off capacity
of 20,000 metric tons and a nominal jacket
launch capacity of 25,000t following
completion of a fast-track, 10-month
modification programme involving over
1900t of steel and the installation of a
digitally controlled fast ballast system.
The barge has two 552ft skid beams and
its four double-action hydraulic jacks can
be arranged to load a structure from
shore and to reposition it offshore for
launching.
The sensitive ballast system is fitted
using diesel pumps and 16 hydraulically
operated rapid flood bottom valves.
Controls are centrally located including
remote tank level gauging.
J Ray McDermott Engineering in
Houston and New Orleans designed the
modifications in coordination with the
company's Singapore project team from a
simple concept to a detailed system
suited for load out and float off of decks
and jackets. System design was approved
by both the floatover customer and the
vessel's classification society, ABS.
First outing for the beefed-up barge
came in the South China Sea in May via a
jacket launch contract awarded to
McDermott subsidiary Hydro Marine
Services by the China Offshore Oil
Engineering Company (COOEC).
This involved installation of a 213m
high, 25,200t bottom supported jacket
in operator CNOOC's
Panyu 30-1 natural gas field offshore
Guangdong province. Designed in China
and built at COOEC's Shenzhen facility,
this jacket is seen as a significant step in
the development of a local deepwater
engineering capability.
Development drilling at Panyu 30-1 is
expected to get under way in September.
Starting in 2007, gas from this field and
the CACT Operators Group's
neighbouring Hui Zhou 21-1 subsea
development in 115m of water, which
came onstream recently, will be piped
365km to the Zhuhai terminal for
distribution to nearby cities.
Meanwhile the 650 is being readied for
the challenge of PTTEP's Arthit deck
floatover.
J Ray's Batam Island facility started
fabricating the Arthit processing
platform topsides in the third quarter of
last year, with the company's Jebel Ali
marine group pitching in with
installation engineering and its Houston
office handling the engineering for the
floatover component.
McDermott's scope under this
$110 million contract includes
procurement, fabrication, transportation,
installation, hook-up and precommissioning
of the Arthit topsides,
which are expected to weigh in at
17,600 short tons. AOG
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