The steel jacket for the Statoil-operated Mariner A platform on the U.K. Continental Shelf (UKCS) left the Spanish Dragados yard Aug. 10 and is now on its way to the North Sea, according to a news release.
Construction of the large platform substructure started in October 2013 and was completed in May this year. At 134-m high and weighing 22,400 tonnes, the steel jacket it is the largest built for a Statoil project, the release said. The load-out from the Dragados yard in Cadiz onto the S44 barge took place in late July.
On Aug. 10, the main tug—Skandi Iceman—was connected to the barge and the jacket safely entered the channel of Bahia Cadiz later that afternoon. The 1,835-nautical mile journey from the southern part of Spain to the Mariner Field in the North Sea is expected to take around two weeks, the release said.
After it has arrived at the field, the jacket will be launched by the barge being ballasted to a certain angle, enabling the 22,400-tonne structure to slide horizontally into the sea. The structure will then be upended and maneuvered into the right position by the heavy-lift vessel Saipem 7000. Finally, the jacket will be secured by 24 piles, the release said. Topsides installation is planned to take place in 2016.
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