Page 15: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 1982)

The Gusto-designed maintenance platform for ARAMCO will be 95.1 meters long by 37 meters wide and 5.3 meters deep, having a draft of 2.13 meters. The four enclosed box construction legs will be operated by a rack and pinion system. The platform will be equipped with a 245-ton crawler crane, four 100-ton mooring winches, and four 15-ton pipe repair davits.

ARAMCO Awards $125-Million Order

For Four Self-Elevating Platforms

ARAMCO has awarded a con- tract to Verolme Brazil (VERB) for the construction of four self- elevating platforms. The contract is valued at more than $125 mil- lion. The platforms were designed by Gusto Engineering of Schie- dam, Holland.

Three will be used for well- servicing and fire-fighting, and the fourth for maintenance oper- ations on production platforms, light construction work, and the repair of underwater pipelines.

While it is fairly common for self-elevating platforms to be used for such purposes, the require- ments laid down by ARAMCO render the design of these units unique in many ways. First, the platforms must operate in water depths ranging from eight to 180 ers with controllable-pitch propel- lers. Model tests conducted at

Duisburg showed that a speed of two knots can be obtained with only one-foot of water beneath the keel, and six knots in deeper water.

In view of the frequent move- ments between locations and the need to minimize the risk of dam- age to subsea pipelines, the plat- forms will be equipped with a high-speed jacking system. De- signed by Gusto, the system is of the hydraulic type and enables the platform to be raised at a rate of about 6 feet/min.

In designing these platforms for

ARAMCO, Gusto Engineering's role was not limited to the pro- vision of a basic design, but em- braced a design package includ- ing specifications, calculations and drawings to the classification requirements of the American

Bureau of Shipping. feet and be capable of moving from one location to another un- der their own power. Second, the presence on the seabed of numer- ous pipelines precludes the use of the four-point mooring system normally employed to keep a plat- form in position during jacking- up and jacking-down. Finally, the design had to allow for three- knot currents in the operational area and the sudden storms which can occur in the Arabian Gulf.

The requirements resulted in platforms with relatively large dimensions to permit operation in only 8 feet of water. For move- ment between locations, and po- sitional stability during jacking- up and jacking-down each plat- form is equipped with four Schot- tel-Lips 1,360-hp steerable thrust-

Three well-servicing platforms to be built by Verolme Brazil will be 61.5 meters long by 30 meters wide and 5.3 meters deep, having a 1.74-meter draft. The enclosed box construction legs will operate with a rack and pinion type system.

The platforms can house up to 40 persons, and will be fitted with fire-fighting equipment having 23,000 liters per minute capacity.

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April 1, 1982 Write 100 on Reader Service Card 107