Pipelay Vessel News

Italian offshore energy services firm Saipem has signed a long-term charter contract with Chinese state-owned port and naval machinery manufacturer ZPMC for the JSD6000, a latest generation ship for offshore heavy lifting, construction and pipelaying.The signed contract provides for the bareboat charter of the ship for a five-year duration, plus two extension options of one year each.The vessel will be delivered to Saipem in June 2024 and will become part of the company’s fleet.Equipped with a DP3 dynamic positioning system and a heavy-lift capacity of up to 5…

Malaysia-based offshore services firm Sapura Energy has through its joint venture companies secured $1.8 billion worth of contracts with Brazil’s state-owned energy giant Petrobras for the provision of subsea services and six pipe-laying support vessels (PLSVs).Sapura Energy has through the joint ventures owned by Seabras Sapura Holding and Seabras Sapura Participações, in collaboration with Paratus Energy Services, secured contracts for its full fleet of six multi-purpose PLSVs as part of a competitive tender process run by Petrobras.Sapura Energy…

Dutch company Huisman has secured a contract from Subsea 7 for the delivery of its 500MT offshore mast crane for one of pipelay vessels for deep water installations.The 500mt Offshore Mast Crane will be equipped with a passive and active heave compensation system on the main hoist to counter-act the vessel’s heave motion when landing a product onto the seabed.Huisman has upgraded its heave compensation system with a variety of new control modes to extend the operational window…

Offshore installation services firm Allseas has inaugurated 'Sandpiper', its new barge for shallow water offshore construction activities.Allseas said Thursday that the 170-meter barge was inaugurated this week in Singapore with a special ceremony after several upgrading activities in 2022/2023. The vessel is is a flat-bottom, anchored barge for shallow water offshore construction activities, purchased by Allseas in 2022 and upgraded for pipelaying in 2022/23.Sandpiper is equipped with a 10-point mooring system…

Dutch maritime equipment and technology firm Royal IHC has handed over the converted J-lay vessel Amazon to McDermott International.Royal IHC said: "For this project, Royal IHC has converted Amazon into the modern and state-of-the-art J-lay vessel it is today. The patented system, with dynamic top tension capacity of 1.500 tonnes, can handle a variety of pipes, including normal flowlines, export lines, and pipe-in-pipe configurations, ranging in size from 4.5 to 25 inches in diameter and inline assemblies.

The Isle of Man Ship Registry registered Subsea 7's newest vessel, Seven Vega.It is the eleventh Offshore Support Vessel built for Subsea 7 to be flagged with the Registry. Seven Vega has been designed to install economical flowline technologies that address the growing market trend towards longer tie-back developments, and sets a new standard for offshore pipelay.While most Subsea 7 vessels store piping and cabling in large carousel holds under deck, Seven Vega stows the product on external vertically mounted reels recessed into the deck with an open-top configuration.

The consortium behind the Russia-led Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline has resumed laying pipes in the waters of Denmark, it said on Saturday, despite mounting pressure on the project from Washington.Construction of the link, which would double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream pipeline to 110 billion cubic meters of gas per year, was suspended in December 2019 due to the threat of sanctions from Washington.However the German government has stood by the project and late in December a vessel called the Fortuna…

The United States has informed Germany that it plans to impose sanctions on a Russian pipe-laying ship involved in construction of the Russian-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, the German Economy Ministry said on Monday."We're taking note of the announcement with regret," an Economy Ministry spokesman in Berlin said.German business daily Handelsblatt had earlier reported the U.S. sanctions would go into effect on Tuesday as part of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).It said the sanctions would be imposed on the Russian pipe-laying ship "Fortuna" and its owner, KVT-RUS.Nord Stream 2, designed to double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream undersea gas pipeline, would bypass Ukraine, depriving it of lucrative transit fees.

The United States has told European allies it plans to impose sanctions on a Russian pipe-laying ship, "Fortuna", involved in construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, German business daily Handelsblatt reported on Monday.The U.S. administration told government officials in Berlin and other European capitals on Monday that the sanctions would go into effect on Tuesday as part of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), the newspaper added.It said the sanctions would be imposed on the ship and its owner, KVT-RUS.Nord Stream 2, designed to double capacity of the existing undersea Nord Stream gas pipeline…

The Russian pipe-laying vessel Fortuna has left the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction site in the Baltic Sea, Refinitiv Eikon data showed on Monday, indicating that the 2.6-km stretch of the project in German waters may have been completed.Fortuna was now heading for the north German port of Wismar, the data showed.The Fortuna earlier this month resumed work on the pipeline, which will pump gas directly from Russia to western Europe, bypassing Ukraine. Work had been suspended for a year due to the risks of sanctions from the United States.Nord Stream-2 did not respond to a request for comment on Monday on the latest developments.The pipeline…

A Russian pipe-laying vessel, Fortuna, has arrived at the construction site of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, Refinitiv Eikon data showed on Friday, with work on the project set to resume.There are also several procurement vessels near the site, according to the data.The Akademik Cherskiy, another, more modern pipe-laying vessel which had arrived at the site north of the German and Polish coasts last week, has since moved away and is now drifting near the Russian port of Kaliningrad.Nord Stream 2 has repeatedly declined to comment on which vessel will lay the pipes and when exactly works to construct the pipeline, which will run from Russia to Europe across the Baltic Sea…

Russian pipe-laying vessel Akademik Cherskiy stopped on Saturday near the construction site of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, Refinitiv Eikon data showed on Saturday.The consortium led by Gazprom building the 1,230 kilometers (km) pipeline said last month that work would resume after it was suspended a year ago when U.S. sanctions targeted companies involved in the construction.The U.S. ambassador to Berlin called on the German government and the European Union to put a temporary halt to construction work on the pipeline to send a signal to Moscow.Washington says the pipeline, which has become a flashpoint in relations between Russia and the West that have sunk to post-Cold War lows…

Offshore installation specialist Subsea 7 has expanded its fleet with newbuild reel-lay vessel Seven Vega.Built by Dutch shipbuilder Royal IHC, the Seven Vega is 149 meters long, with a breadth of 33 meters, and a Class 3 dynamic positioning system.Its reel-lay system has a 600-ton top tension capacity consisting of a 32-meter main reel and a 17-meter auxiliary reel with a maximum storage capacity of 5,600 and 1,600 tons respectively. The vessel is fitted with cranes offering a lifting capacity of 250 and 50 tons…

A Russian pipe-laying vessel Academic Cherskiy which Moscow can use to finish laying pipes for the Nord Stream 2 gas project, has moored near the German logistics hub in Mukran, Refinitiv Eikon tracking data showed on Monday.Led by the state gas company Gazprom, Nord Stream 2 had to suspend pipelaying works late last year, hit by fresh U.S. sanctions. The project is aimed at doubling existing undersea flows to Germany to 110 billion cubic meters per year.Cherskiy, bought by Gazprom in 2016, has sailed from the Russian Pacific port of Nakhodka where it was docked in December when the U.S. sanctions put the plan to finish the remaining 160-km stretch near the Danish island of Bornholm on hold…

Several crewmembers aboard Saipem's offshore vessel FDS in a port in the Netherlands have been placed in isolation after a confirmed COVID-19 case aboard.As reported by Saipem last Friday, one crewmember on the pipelayer was disembarked and transferred to isolation after he was confirmed positive.Responding to Offshore Engineer's requests on how many people were tested, and how many were on board the vessel, Saipem said: "Only one colleague was tested, disembarked and placed in quarantine as he had significant symptoms (high fever and suspected pneumonia).

UK-based player in subsea, onshore/offshore and surface projects TechnipFMC has entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to sell the Global 1201 S-lay and heavy-lift and pipelay vessel in an effort to optimize the profile and size of its subsea fleet.The MOA is subject to certain conditions precedent to complete the transaction. The global oil and gas services company expects to complete the sale in December as these conditions are met, including delivery of the vessel in December 2019.The MOA also includes a Collaboration Agreement with the buyer that would provide five years of exclusivity for a list of named subsea projects in a specific jurisdiction and the right of first refusal for other projects not specifically named in the Collaboration Agreement.Due to this MOA…

Amsterdam-based Spliethoff Group has recently signed a contract with  China’s Mawei Shipyard for the newbuild of two DP2- B-type vessels.The largest shipowner in the Netherlands said the design combines the capacity of a multipurpose vessel with DP2 station-keeping up to Beaufort scale 6, which makes it well suited for supplying heavy cargo directly offshore."To obtain the fast, safe and efficient loading and discharge of pipes, both on and offshore, the vessel has a removable, automated, pipe-handling gantry crane installed," it said.The B-Type is also equipped with two Huisman 500 mt Heavy Lift Mast cranes, making her suitable for both heavy lift transportation and offshore installation.

Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping CSJC (ASCO) announced that its vessels - Suleiman Vazirov and Yarenga - have completed the second stage of pipe laying work in the Absheron gas and condensate field located in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.According to the Azerbaijani shipping company, at this stage, an 8-inch pipeline with a length of 11,459 meters was layed in the Absheron area between jackets No. 23 and No. 57.Next stage includes pipe laying works at the Gas Separation Station No. 2 of the Bulla-Deniz field. It is planned to lay a pipeline with a length of 27 km.The Suleiman Vazirov pipe-laying vessel and the Yarenga towing and supply vessel of the Caspian Sea Oil Fleet ASCO are used in pipe-laying works.As usual…

Maritime Developments (MDL), a provider of back-deck equipment for the subsea sector of oil and gas industry, has been awarded a contract to supply a complete pipelay spread and personnel for a flexible installation offshore Equatorial Guinea.The award comes from a new client, whose work scope covers the launch of a number of new wells in an existing network of drill centres in the West African basin, MDL said.The MDL spread will consist of the MDL Horizontal Lay System (HLS), delivered with a 4-track pipelay tensioner; an MDL Second-generation Reel Drive System and MDL’s integrated Track and Cradle System.The project is due to commence in Q3 this year and will be MDL’s fourth campaign in West Africa in 2019.

Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO), the largest and oldest shipping company on the Caspian sea, informed that works on laying pipes in the Absheron gas condensate field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea are under way.“Aura” tow-vessel vessel and “Suleyman Vezirov” pipe- laying ship of the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO) were involved in the pipe laying operations.The first phase of the operations has already been completed. Thus, the 13299-meter pipeline between “Darwin Bank” and “Absheron Bank” was fully laid.At present, the pipe laying process is carried out by ships between “Absheron Bank” and “Western Absheron”. The length of this line is 11600 meters.At the next stage, pipe –laying works will be carried out in the gas separator point No.

Subsea services specialist Sapura Brazil has signed a five-year optimized maintenance agreement with Wärtsilä.As per the agreement the the Finnish tech major will support Sapura’s fleet of six pipe-laying support vessels' (PLSV) operational performance and increase both its efficiency and reliability by accurately predicting maintenance requirements. This will also help lower operating costs.The Wärtsilä solution includes asset diagnostics of the vessels’ main engines and thrusters to define the actual condition of the equipment. This enables a predictive maintenance strategy whereby servicing activities and overhauls are carried out according to the known condition of the equipment components…

Allseas-owned pipelay vessel Solitaire has started laying the first line of the Nord Stream 2 twin gas pipeline in Russian waters.Solitaire will spend about a month constructing one of the two  approximately 100-kilometres-long sections in the Russian territorial sea.Solitaire, operated by Allseas, is a 300-metres-long and 41-metres-wide dynamically positioned vessel that will lay pipes around the clock seven days a week. It accommodates up to 420 people on board.A vessel that is positioned using thrusters instead of anchors helps to minimise the impact on the environment and marine traffic, as only the pipeline itself touches the seabed along the pipeline route.The activities are performed in accordance with the national permits granted by responsible authorities.

McDermott International, provider of technology, engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry, and its joint venture partner, Chiyoda International Corporation, a U.S.-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Chiyoda Corporation, Japan, announced that Train 1 of the Cameron LNG project in Louisiana has reached the final commissioning stage.This includes the introduction of pipeline feed gas into Train 1 of the liquefaction export facility, the precursor for the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG), said a press release from the American multinational engineering company."We are extremely proud of the Cameron LNG project team for this achievement and their remarkable safety performance," said Mark Coscio, McDermott's Senior Vice President for North, Central and South America.