Page 94: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (May/Jun 2013)

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Van Oord commissions Stingray,

Pipelines new shallow-water pipelay vessel International contractor Van Oord is in the fnal stages of commis- sioning its frst shallow-water pipe- lay vessel, Stingray, at the COSCO shipyard in Nantong, China.

Meg Chesshyre spoke with

Maurice de Kok, Van Oord ea high-capacity winches to pull pre- manager for offshore pipeline in- fabricated sections from the shore; stallation, to fnd out what the new this known as the “on-bottom pull” method. The problem is that there vessel will bring to the company.

isn’t always a suitable area available at the shoreline to prefabricate the “Our strategy is to both reinforce pipeline sections, or, where there is, our existing position as an EPC you are often not allowed to weld

O contractor and expand our activi- because of safety and environmental ties in the shallow water oil and gas restrictions. Stingray will give us market” says de Kok. “Van Oord has new in-house capability to lay subsea interfaces that have been common in been active in this market for several pipelines.” these types of project will save time decades, but with more focus on Stingray is equipped with state-of- and money and, most importantly, seabed intervention works such as the-art machinery to install pipelines reduce risk.

trenching and backflling for pipeline from 6-in. to 60-in. diameter, and its In addition to pipe laying in shal- shore approaches. Complementary primary focus will be the undertak- low water, the integral 500 tonne to this, we have built up a world- ing of S-lay pipe-lay works. Ideally, capacity crane and large area of free wide track record in the installation these will be in combination with deck space make the vessel suitable of pipelines using barge-mounted, shore approaches and other shallow for a wide range of related offshore water activities that Van Oord can activities such as buoy and manifold undertake with its feet. installations, hook-ups, commission-

Van Oord’s offshore oil and “Stingray allows us to offer a ing, piling and midline tie-ins. gas industry track record package that we believe to be unprec- “Stingray will also offer added edented in the offshore construction value for our activities in the SPM

Norway: Ormen Lange subsea rock installation industry” says de Kok. “We aim to installation market, where EPC con- provide our clients with total in- tracts for the entire offshore facility

Russian Federation: Baydaratskaya

Bay crossing house capability in shallow water are commonplace. If we are involved oil and gas developments, with Van at an early stage of such projects,

Russian Federation: Sakhalin Island –

Arkutun Dagi GBS

Oord offering integrated marine we can optimize the engineering to solutions from the shoreline to water provide more practical and economic

United Arab Emirates: FAPCO Single

Point Mooring Fujairah depths of around 100m.” Comple- solutions.” mentary activities will include The barge was built at Jingjiang

United Arab Emirates: EPC Offshore facilities ADCOP the construction of landfalls, rock Nanyang Shipyard (owned by POET Canada: Excavated Drilling Centres for installation, trenching and backflling Singapore) in China and acquired

Hibernia and the installation of single-point by Van Oord when nearly complete

Australia: Gorgon Northern Scarp deep mooring systems and gravity-based in July 2011. Offcial handover took sea dredging structures. The absence of contractor place in mid-February 2012. Since

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