Offshore staff
ZUG, Switzerland – Nord Stream AG has reportedly awarded Allseas a letter of intent to lay the first Nord Stream 2 pipeline across the Baltic Sea, with an option for the second line up to the end of 1Q 2017.
Awards should follow shortly for nearshore pipelaying in Russia and close to the landfall in northern Germany.
Recently Nord Stream AG took delivery of a subsea repair clamp at the Statoil PRSI storage facilities in Haugesund, western Norway.
The hydraulically-activated clamp is designed to restore structural and pressure integrity in the pipeline should a leak or structural damage occur.
Ruurd Hoekstra, maintenance director at Nord Stream AG, said: “Owing to the high quality of the materials involved and the conservative design of the pipelines, we do not foresee repairs during Nord Stream’s minimum operational lifespan of 50 years.”
Oil States Industries in Houston manufactured the clamp which is 10 m (33 ft) long, 2.5 m (8.2 ft) wide and 4 m (13 ft) tall, with a diameter of 48-in. and a weight of just over 106 tons.
The varying diameter makes the system applicable at any point along the pipeline route. The clamp’s two matched halves can be locked around the pipeline to seal it and restore normal operating conditions on a length of 3 m (10 ft).
Hydraulically-activated saddles at each end of the clamp help position it on the pipeline.
Following a repair, the Nord Stream pipeline should be able to continue normal operations. The clamp’s 50-year design life matches the planned operational lifespan of the pipeline system.
12/22/2016
