Page 49: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 2014)

www.marinelink.com 49

The Ceona Amazon includes a combi- nation of capacities, such as spool base independent pipelay, heavy lift (two 400t cranes working in tandem) and subsea construction (including fl oaters instal- lation) with the vessel designed to be weather resilient and technically versa- tile.

At 199-m in length, the ship is able to offer one-stop-shop offshore trips for cli- ents’ projects. It boasts a huge product carrying capacity (5,000t of fl exible or 8,500t of rigid pipe stored on and below her 4,600 sw. m. deck), twin 400-ton heave compensated (AHC) mast head cranes capable of working in tandem lifting mode, innovative on-vessel pipe- line fabrication capabilities (welding, non-destructive testing and FJC) and su- perior operability (drill ship design hull with mid-ship moonpool) – each feature positioning

The ship is due to be fully operational early in 2015 following the fi nal installa- tion of a 570-ton pipelay tower and the cranes at Huisman yard in Schiedam, the

Netherlands, where the Ceona Amazon will become fully fl edged as a uniquely versatile subsea construction vessel.

The pipelay system consists of a tower with a top tension of 570-ton. It can lay rigid, fl exible pipelines and umbilicals, risers and install large subsea structures using one or both of its cranes in tandem lift mode.

Ceona Amazon has an innovative con- fi gured G-lay pipelay system (under pat- ent application) which combines com- ponents of well-known tried and tested pipelay systems (J-S and Reel-lay).

The welding line is traditional S-lay, however once welded, the pipe is de- fl ected around a stern wheel and in- stalled through a conventional pipelay tower with two tensioners and a total top tension of 570t in deep water.

There is also space left on the large back deck to hold a vast complement of project specifi c equipment such as suc- tion anchors, this is complemented with sizeable under-deck storage. The vessel’s huge capacity avoids the requirement to call for the support of an offshore supply barge as well as allowing for faster pipe- lay capabilities.

The combination of the mast cranes capable of operating in tandem supports the lowering of large structures to water depths of 3000m to install FPSOs, Semis or TLPs and alleviates the need for a sec- ond vessel, as is common for such opera- tions.

In addition, due to the tandem crane arrangements, very long and complex spools are easily managed. The AHC cranes will be accompanied by a single 30t heave compensated knuckle boom crane.

Based on a drill ship hull, the mid-ship moonpool allows operations to continue in tougher sea and wind conditions than her peers. The pipelay tower is placed as close to the transverse axes of the ves- sel as possible to minimise the effect of vessel motions on the pipe installation stresses. At 8m by 13.5m the moonpool is large enough for the biggest PLETs.

Through her versatility, heavy lift ca- pabilities and large storage capacity, the

Ceona Amazon is a unique vessel that offers considerable added value to the energy industry as it enters increasingly challenging deepwater territories.

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