Page 6: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 15, 1981)

J Storm XVI Is 50th Jackup

Commissioned At Bethlehem, Beaumont

Southern Drilling Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ma- rine Drilling Company, and Beth- lehem Steel Corporation's Beau- mont, Texas, shipyard, recently commissioned a 250-foot water depth mobile offshore drilling unit.

The rig was christened J Storm

XVI by its sponsor Mrs. Jack K.

Larsen, wife of the executive vice president of Mesa Petroleum

Company. Senator John G. Tower, senior Senator from Texas, gave the keynote address at the cere- mony.

The multimillion-dollar rig has been under construction for near- ly 10 months and, upon delivery, will begin drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico for Mesa

Petroleum Company.

James C. Storm has been a long-time customer of Bethlehem Steel Corpora- tion's shipyard at Beaumont.

Sherman C. Perry, general man- ager of the shipyard, said this commissioning marks a significant milestone in the history of the shipyard. It extends to 50 the number of jackup drilling units commissioned by the Beaumont yard since it built the first 100- foot water depth jackup in 1954.

The commissioning also marks the fifth rig to be delivered this year by the yard, as well as the 87th offshore rig delivered by

Bethlehem yards.

The J Storm XVI is a mat-sup- ported jackup designed for deep- well drilling operations. On loca- tion, the rig will have a total variable drilling load capacity of 4.5 million pounds and handle hook or rotary, plus setback loads of 950,000 pounds.

The rig consists of a platform

Sherman C. Perry, general manager of

Bethlehem Steel Corporation's shipyard at Beaumont, Texas. measuring 176 feet by 109 feet supported by three 12-foot-di- ameter columns fixed to a mat that is 210 feet by 170 feet. Out- fitted with deepwell drilling equip- ment, the rig can operate in waters of up to 250 feet while ex- periencing forces resulting from 70-knot winds and 35-foot-high waves. The J Storm XVI contains onboard, air-conditioned living accommodations for 48 persons.

This marks the 18th time that one of the 50 Beaumont rigs was commissioned for the James C.

Storm interests.

The J Storm XVI is No. 18, and the J Storm XVII No. 19 is scheduled for commissioning and delivery later this year.

Mr. Storm's dealings with the yard follow a direct line back to 1949. Then in November 1954, the

Beaumont yard delivered the Mr.

Gus, the first mobile drilling plat- form capable of operating in 100 feet of water.

Mr. Gus was built for the C.G.

Glasscock Drilling Company; Mr.

Storm became a partner in that company shortly after he joined it at the close of World War II. In 1957, the Beaumont yard deliver- ed Mr. Gus II, the prototype of the mat-supported jackup rigs built at the yard today. It was the first mobile drilling unit that could drill in up to 150 feet of water.

Mr. Storm was involved with that rig also. And Mr. Gus II, after 24 years of service, is still drilling for oil and natural gas.

After the Glasscock interests disposed of their drilling rigs, Mr.

Storm formed Storm Drilling

Company for whom the Beaumont

Yard built Stormdrill I, Storm- drill II, Stormdrill III, and Storm- drill IV. Another Storm company,

Southern Marine Drilling Com- pany, ordered Stormdrill V. Sub- sequently Storm Drilling Com- pany was sold.

Mr. Storm then formed Marine

Drilling Company and ordered J

Storm I from the Beaumont ship- yard.

J Storm I was initially ordered with capability to operate in 225 feet of water. Mr. Storm asked if the columns could be strength- ened and lengthened. The yard added 25 feet of capability, and

Inert Gas Generators

To Operate On #6 Oil —Literature Available

Nine San Clemente-class tank- ers operated by Apex Marine Cor- poration will be retrofitted with pretested inert gas generators from Foster Wheeler Boiler Cor- poration, Livingston, N.J. The generators will be designed to op- erate on #6 heavy oil instead of #2 diesel oil, the usual fuel for this type of equipment.

Three of the Apex tankers will be modified at the San Diego,

Calif., yard of National Steel and

Shipbuilding Company (NAS-

SCO), while the other six will be fitted at the Jacksonville (Fla.) the rig became the prototype for

Bethlehem's series of 250-foot jackup rigs.

He also ordered the first jackup drilling unit capable of working in up to 375 feet of water. The yard designed this platform to utilize telescoping legs so it would be manageable under tow to differ- ent locations, yet be able to work in deeper waters. This rig, J

Storm VII, was delivered in 1976.

Mr. Perry, general manager of the yard since June 1, 1978, re- ported that Beaumont has work for the next 1H years. "We have orders for 12 offshore mobile drill- ing units, which will take us into 1983, and negotiations are being conducted for additional con- tracts."

The general manager said that the yard has delivered four jack- up drilling units thus far this year, and anticipates delivery of four or possibly five more by the end of the year.

That would match or nearly match 1980, when nine drilling units were delivered. For 1978 and 1979, the yard delivered five units each year.

Contracts on hand and the cus- tomers are: Marine Drilling Com- pany, one unit in addition to the

J Storm XVI; Houtech Energy,

Inc., four units; O & U Drilling

Co., Inc., one unit; Griffin-Alex- ander Drilling Co., three units;

Teledyne Movible, one unit, and

Alfa Drilling, one unit.

The yard presently has more than 2,300 employees at work on the drilling units with two shifts generally being worked, and can accommodate six units under con- struction simultaneously.

The shipyard's principal prod- ucts are offshore mobile drilling units, primarily jackups, and oil and gas production and storage facilities for offshore service. The

Beaumont yard has built many ships and barges, principally for the petroleum industry, and can handle any repair, reconditioning, conversion or jumboizing of ships.

It has a floating drydock with lifting capacity of 17,500 tons and extreme length of 648 feet. Its mobile floating crane has a capac- ity of 500 tons.

Shipyards, Incorporated. Each of the generators is capable of sup- plying 6,345 standard cubic feet per minute of inert gas at 2.8 pounds per square inch. All units are scheduled for delivery and installation by December 1981.

The Foster Wheeler inert gas generators are built and sold in the United States under license to Moss Rosenberg Verft of Nor- way. Before delivery, their per- formance is tested at a facility at

Tulsa, Okla., the only one of its kind in this country. A matching test site is located at Moss Rosen- berg Verft.

For complete literature on in- ert gas generators from Foster

Wheeler,

Write 23 on Reader Service Card 10 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News