The test frame for Allseas’ mega-vessel Pieter Schelte arrived at BOW Terminal in Vlissingen.
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The En Avant 20 tugging the test frame. From Muller. |
Volker Staal en Funderingen (VSF) awarded BOW Terminal a contract to store the 1500-tonne module support frame (MSF) for the world’s largest decommissioning vessel.
The Muller En Avant 20 tugged the pontoon 10033-1 with the frame from the Able yard in Teesside in the UK.
The frame will be divided into two pieces and modified by VSF for testing parts of the capabilities of the Pieter Schelte.
After modification the frame will have a height of approximately 60m. It will include a lower part founded on four suction piles and an upper part, which will include a water tank filled with seawater to simulate a test lift weight of 5000-tonne.
The test frame is set to be complete by March 2015 and will then be installed in a field in the Dutch sector of the North Sea in 30m water depth.
This project is the first heavy roll-on/roll-off operation for BOW Terminal. According to BOW, the company also won a contract to provide all equipment and labor for the horizontal and vertical movements. The movements will be carried out by self propelled modular transporters, crawlers and mobile cranes.
Allseas reported last week, that the Pieter Schelte is close to leaving Korea for open water sea trials in Europe. Tests began with final thruster tuning, testing and verification of the remaining power management system.
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| Test frame. From Muller. |
The mega-vessel’s marine propulsion systems also underwent an endurance trial that demands all systems to be run at 100% for 12 hours. Further tests are ongoing.
Pieter Schelte is scheduled to leave South Korea in October to arrive in Rotterdam by the end of 2014. Its 16 lifting beams for topsides lifting will be installed in the spring 2015. The first contract, the removal of the Talisman Yme platform is set for summer 2015.
The vessel will then move to the South Stream pipelay project that consists of an 888km pipeline from Russia, through the Black Sea to Bulgaria.
Allseas’ Pieter Schelte is 382m-long and 124m-wide, with a 59-wide slot for removing topsides. Its lift capability is 48,000-tonne for topsides using eight sets of horizontal lifting beams, at 6000-tonne each and 25,000-tonne for jackets, using two tilting lift beams on the stern for lifting and laydown. Its pipelay system has a 2000-tonne capacity S-Lay pipelay system, able to handle 12m pipe sections under tension using four 500-tonne tensioners, with a 170m-long stinger. The vessel has 12 thrusters at 75-tonne each, powered by eight main diesel generators, providing a total installed 95MW power.
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