Offshore staff
AMSTERDAM -- Sea Trucks Group is preparing to take delivery of Jascon 31, the fifth in a series of seven newbuild offshore construction units.
Jascon 31, a DP-3 construction/accommodation barge, was built in China and is currently undergoing sea trials off Singapore. A Sea Trucks spokesperson, speaking today at DOT, said the vessel's first assignment would be to provide accommodation support to Total's Pazflor development off Angola, under a six-month contract starting in March. It will be hooked up to the Pazflor FPSO via a 42.5 m telescopic gangway.
This latest addition to the Sea Trucks fleet is 111 m (364 ft) long, with a breadth of 30.48 m (100 ft), and can accommodate up to 483 personnel. Onboard equipment includes a 400-metric ton (441-ton), heave compensated crane suitable for subsea installations. The Class III DP systen, providing total thruster power of 8.75 MW, is fully redundant.
Two of the barge's forerunners, the Jascon 28 and the Jascon 30, are also on duty currently off West Africa, providing pipelay and accommodation services for ExxonMobil on the Kizomba project. These are longer-term assignments, with options for extensions.
Next addition to the fleet will be the Jascon 18, a larger, ship-shaped reel-lay/heavy-lift/construction vessel. According to the spokesperson, the hull (again built in China) has just been completed, and Sea Trucks hopes to award an outfitting contract by the end of Q1, 2011, followed by final delivery at the end of Q3, 2012.
Concept development was done in -house with support from specialist consultants.
Jascon 18 will be equipped for single-joint S-lay of pipes varying from 4-48-in. diameter, with a 120-m (394-ft) long stinger. The S-lay equipment will be stored fully below deck, leaving a clear above-deck area of around 1,800 sq m (19,375 sq ft). There wil be accommodation for up to 400 personnel.
The final vessel in the series, Jascon 35, will be similar to Jascon 18. The hull is ready, although Sea Trucks is in no hurry to commission outftiing. It wil probably be ready for service around end-2013.
Among the next wave of deepwater mega-projects off West Africa is Total's Engina in the Nigerian sector. Sea Trucks is preparing a joint bid with McDermott, and teamed up with Acergy to bid for the Nigerian Ehra North development. Elsewhere, the company sees Australia as providing the strongest prospects for its fleet, with, amongst others, Chevron's Gorgon project currently out to bid.
12/01/2010
