Saipem has celebrated setting new milestones in the oil service industry with the installation of two gas export free standing hybrid risers (FSHR), 20in and 19in respectively, in the Pre-Salt area of Santos Basin about 300km from the Brazilian shoreline.
The operations on the 20in FSHR set records for the largest, deepest and heaviest installation of such systems in the industry, as well as the longest and heaviest buoyancy tank ever installed, says Saipem.
In both operations, the buoyancy tanks were uprighted in the water using the self-upending method, which involves controlled flooding.
"These challenging operations, completed safely and effectively, were performed by Saipem’s highly specialized field development ship, FDS2, in water depths of 2200m and made use of the full lifting and handling capacities and technology of the vessel, which include a 1000-tonne main crane, 750-tonne and 500-tonne A&R winches, and two 1500-tonne capacity patented friction clamps on the J-lay tower," the firm says.
"These outstanding results are in no small part the outcome of continuous engineering, fabrication and operational improvements that have been constantly nurtured through the successful implementation of a number of FHSR systems in projects all over the world."