Jumbo Offshore has been awarded a contract by Malaysian pipelay contractor Sigur Ros to oversee transportation and installation of 126 deepwater gravity anchor spreads.

The company said it would use the Heavy Lift Vessel (HLV) Fairplayer to carry out the work in water depths of up to 1,400 m (4,593 ft), starting late in 2013 or early 2014. Project management and engineering will be carried out by Jumbo, which will undertake collection of the materials in Turkey, transportation to the offshore location and installation.

The materials will be loaded onboard using the vessel’s 900t mast cranes. The anchor spreads, which will consist of a 230t gravity anchor, tether wire and subsea buoy will be used to moor a pipeline with a 1,600mm diameter, running 80km from Turkey to Northern Cyprus. The pipeline, in spans of approximately 500 m (1,640 ft), will be suspended, floating at a depth of approximately 250 m (820 ft).

The tether ropes, 116mm in diameter, will be cut to varying lengths to match water depths along the pipeline’s route. Towards the tops of the tether wires the subsea buoys, 8 m (26 ft) in length, 3 m (10 ft) in diameter and weighing 17t each, will be positioned to moor the pipeline.

Carrying out the installation will require the Fairplayer’s DP2 system to maintain the vessel’s position. The anchor spreads will be lowered into position using both of the HLV’s mast cranes. One of the cranes will oversee the deployment of the buoy and tensioning of the tether wire, whilst the other will lower the anchor. Both cranes will be equipped with the integrated deepwater winch system, allowing installation without the need for a ‘wet handshake’. A total of 14 km of crane wire will be applied to the winch, which can carry out installations to water depths of up to 3,000 m (9,843 ft).

Removing the wet handshake from the process means less handling and offers greater control says Jumbo. The Fairplayer is also equipped with Jumbo’s patented Deepwater Deployment System, which enables her to install structures in ultra-deepwater.