Trelleborg Offshore has completed design, manufacturing, and testing of the world’s largest bend stiffener.
Offshore staff
TRELLEBORG, Sweden -- Trelleborg Offshore has completed design, manufacturing, and testing of the world’s largest bend stiffener. The bend stiffener was developed for use by StatoilHydro.
The record-breaking bend stiffener was over twice the length and around five times the weight in polyurethane compared with usual. Typically a bend stiffener is around 1.1 tons (0.99 metric tons) in weight and up to 5 m (16 ft) in length.
The stiffener was designed for a 240-mm (9.5-in.) diameter umbilical and installed by Subsea 7. It has an overall length of 11.3 m (37 ft) and a base diameter of 1,315 mm (4.3 ft).
To facilitate the fabrication, an additional polyurethane (PU) dispensing machine was specially commissioned at Trelleborg Offshore’s plant in Skelmersdale, UK.
