Offshore staff
ZUG, Switzerland -- Allseas’ Solitaire has sailed out of Rotterdam following an equipment retrofit to install part of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland.
The dynamically positioned vessel will lay the 342.5-km (213 mi) section of the line in a congested part of the Baltic Sea from the 7.5 km (4.6 mi) point in Russian waters to the 350 km (217 mi) point in the Finnish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
In preparation for this program, Solitaire had to be adapted for the Nord Stream requirements. Each item of pipelay equipment was tested in Rotterdam port and will be re-tested in operational offshore conditions in the Baltic Sea before the vessel starts its laying program.
Solitaire has 10 thrusters to ensure positioning with an integrated propulsion power of 50 MW. The positioning system allows the vessel to work safely work even in adverse weather.
Saipem’s Castoro Sei is laying the sections in Russian and Finnish waters adjoining the stretch handled by Solitaire, and the flat-bottomed Castoro Dieci is constructing the pipeline in the shallow waters at and near the German landfall.
When completed in 2012, Nord Stream will be 1,224 km (760 mi) long, and comprising 202,000 concrete coated steel pipes. The pipeline will transport 55 bcm/year (1.9 tcf/year) of gas throughout Europe.
08/20/2010
