Saipem 7000
Saipem 7000 in Åmøyfjord, Norway, April 2006
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The Saipem 7000 is after Sleipnir the zweitleistungsfähigste floating crane and one of the largest working ships in the world. The ship is also known by its original name Micoperi 7000 or M 7000 and is now often referred to only as the S 7000 .
The name of the ship is derived from the owner, the largest Italian offshore service provider Saipem , a former subsidiary of the energy company Eni , and the maximum load capacity of a main crane of 7000 tons. The S 7000 sails under the flag of the Bahamas and, like the Thialf , is primarily used as a deep-sea / deep-sea work ship in the offshore industry.
Origin and initial history
Development and design
The Saipem 7000 was designed in 1984 as the Micoperi 7000 by the Dutch company Gusto Engineering. She was originally designed by the Italian offshore service company Micoperi in the mid-1980s as a multi-purpose work ship for the installation of offshore structures: It was to be able to carry the large, complex and prefabricated decks or modules of oil platforms (the so-called " Integrated Decks ”) as well as being able to handle the substructures of the platforms (also called“ Jackets ”) with its two large cranes as a whole. The M 7000 - as a classic deep-sea work ship - should also provide accommodation and workplaces for the assembly teams.
The ship, like most modern, large offshore work vessels , was designed as a semi-submersible . It is therefore due to the construction as SSCV ( S EMI S ubmersible C rane V essel, dt. "Semi-diving crane ship") or due to the intended use as DCV ( D eepwater C onstruction V essel, dt. "Deep-working ship") classified. The conception of Gusto thus followed the first built SSCVs Balder and Hermod , which are owned by the Dutch offshore service provider Heerema Marine Contractors , and were built in 1978, but should exceed them in terms of performance and size.
Construction of the ship and early history
The S 7000 was built from 1985 to 1987 in the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone near Trieste (Italy). The hull, which was first built in half in a long dry dock, was driven out of the dock in 1986 and was fully joined together in early 1987 with the support of two pontoons. In April 1987, the two cranes from the crane ship Castoro Otto , which was already owned by Saipem at that time, were installed. The sea trials began in September 1987 and lasted two months.
After the ship was transferred to Micoperi on December 15, 1987, the ship's cost was not published. The trade press estimated it at around 400 million US dollars. Due to the low oil price at the end of the 1980s, the Micoperi company got into financial difficulties due to the decline in orders from the oil industry. In 1991 Micoperi was forced to sell the Micoperi 7000 and numerous other large ships along with other capital goods. In 1995, the ship came into the ownership of the then smaller competitor Saipem, who gave the ship its current name Saipem 7000 on March 24, 1996 . Saipem also took over the entire crew, parts of the equipment and the support team on land with the ship.
Structure and technology
Technology of the original ship
hull
The hull of the work ship consists of two floating bodies, which are connected to the deck structure via six columns. The lower fuselage, pillars and upper fuselage have rectangular cross-sections. The ends of the lower hull, which are shaped like a ship's bow or stern, are an exception. The outside of the pillars is flush with the upper and lower hull, so that there is no overhang of the deck that would reduce the clarity during work.
The front and rear columns are completely divided into several tank compartments for the ballast tanks, while the middle column houses elevators, stairwells and storage space for the pile drivers. Further tanks are also installed there. In the lower hull under the middle column there is a pump room and a drive room, otherwise the floats consist mostly of ballast tanks. Just above the front columns, the two cranes are installed for reasons of stability, while the deckhouse with the bridge sits and the cabins at the stern on the rear pillars. It also serves as a substructure for the helicopter landing deck .
The draft, which is around 10.5 meters during the overpass, is increased to up to 27.5 meters during work by means of a controlled flooding of the ballast tanks. Due to this structural design as a semi-submersible, the ship is much calmer in the water in rough seas or surface currents than a conventional ship.
Energy supply and propulsion system
The ship had a diesel-electric drive from the start . The energy was originally generated by eight twelve-cylinder diesel engines, each with 5,600 kilowatts (kW) or around 8,400 hp. The motors built by Grandi Motori Trieste , a former company of the Fincantieri Group, which today belongs to the Finnish Wärtsilä , generated 44,800 kW and delivered 10,000 volts of voltage at a frequency of 60 Hertz to supply the drives and other units with electrical energy . In addition, two six-cylinder diesels with 3,000 kW (4,200 hp) each and an emergency power generator were available. In total, around 50,800 kW of electrical energy could be generated. The drives were divided into four separate rooms for fire protection reasons.
The ship was propelled by ten jet propulsion systems, which were distributed over both hulls as follows:
- one jet propulsion each in a tunnel at the bow with 2,500 kW
- Two retractable and swiveling propeller pods each with 3,500 kW
- two retractable and swiveling propeller nacelles of the Schottel SRP 4,500 type with 4,500 kW each (used to transfer the ship)
Anchor system and dynamic positioning
The Saipem 7000 used 16 anchors for anchoring up to a water depth of 450 m . The four anchor lines per corner consist of 96 mm thick steel cables with a length of 3350 m. 50 m of 92 mm chains are attached to the steel cables, which connect to the 40-ton Noreshore Mark 3 anchors. The anchor winches have an output of 1350 kW each. There are also two 34.5 tonne anchors hanging on 550 m long and 130 mm (5.125 inch ) thick anchor chains.
The ship is equipped with a Class III Dynamic Positioning System (DPS). With the system and the freely rotating propeller pods, the ship is held in its position by the computer with the support of a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS), regardless of wind, current and load. Operation is possible together with or independently of the use of the anchor system and can be controlled fully automatically, semi-automatically or manually with a control stick. The DPS computer system is redundant .
Crane system and ballast system
The cranes were built by Officine Meccaniche Reggiane in Italy according to plans by the American Hoist & Derrick Company (Amhoist). Both cranes can be swiveled 360 degrees and, with their 140 m long booms and a radius of 40 m, lift 7,000 t with the main hook.
In addition, the cranes are each equipped with three additional winches and hooks. The first side hook can lift a load of 2,500 t with a 75 m radius and the second side hook can lift 900 t with a 115 m radius. The hook at the top of the crane has a load capacity of 120 t with a radius of 140 m. With the second side hook, a load can also be lowered to a water depth of 450 m. Each crane is powered by 11,630 kW (15,600 hp) motors and is equipped with steel cables of various diameters and a total of 77 kilometers (km) in length.
The S 7000 can lift 14,000 t with a radius of 40 m using both cranes in tandem. In terms of load, this is only slightly less than the Thialf , which can lift 14,200 t with a radius of 31.2 m. In a comparison of the load moments - the Saipem 7000 reaches 560,000 meter tonnes (mt) here - it clearly beats the Thialf with its maximum load moment of 443,040 mt.
The trimming of the ship and the changing of the draft is controlled by a computer-aided system, which is also suitable for simulations and designed redundantly. The system controls two different ballast systems that can be used in combination. On the one hand, the ballast systems consist of four conventional pumps that can collectively pump up to 24,000 tons per hour (t / h) between the 40 ballast tanks. The total capacity of these ballast tanks is 83,700 cubic meters (m³). On the other hand, there is the possibility of allowing water to flow freely into special ballast tanks via 2 m valves. The 14 ballast tanks provided for this have a volume of 26,000 m³. This ability is used, for example, to generate a higher lifting speed due to the increasing counterweight of the ship.
More equipment
The following devices are available for driving piles or building foundations:
- two Menck MHU 3000 hydraulic breakers (the most powerful hydraulic breakers in the world)
- two Menck MHU 1700 hydraulic breakers
- two Menck MHU 1000 hydraulic breakers
- two Menck MHU 600 hydraulic breakers
- a Menck MHU 220 hydraulic breaker
- a Menck MHU 195 hydraulic breaker
- two drive units for under / over water use
- a compensator for hydraulic hammers
A 150 t crawler crane (type: Amhoist 9299 ), a 35 t hydraulic crane and two 5 t forklifts are also available for moving material on the working deck .
Accommodation and helicopter deck
Today, 388 single and double cabins for up to 725 people are available to accommodate the crew and work teams. In addition, there is a cinema, fitness center and its own radio and television station on board. There are two trade fairs with 400 and 70 seats as well as a bar and cafeteria available. The accommodations are designed for use in tropical (up to +45 ° C) and cold areas (down to −20 ° C).
The landing deck for helicopters can accommodate two helicopters up to the size of the Boeing CH-47 Chinook , with a parking position for one machine. The fueling system for the helicopter deck meets the same international regulations that also apply to oil drilling platforms.
Major renovation and upgrade
The Saipem 7000 was retrofitted in the winter months of 1999 and 2000 and various components were renewed or supplemented: a new DPS and a better energy supply, higher drive power and a very large J-Lay tower for laying pipelines in very great water depths (so-called ultra-deep water ) were the most important modifications. The work in the Dutch shipyard Keppel Verolme was carried out in two steps.
Expansion of the energy supply, the drive
Four diesel engines from Wärtsilä (type: Wärtsilä 16V32 ) for power generation with 5,600 kW each (according to other information with 5,920 kW), which are distributed over two new, separate generator rooms on the ship, increased the performance of the electrical system by more than 60 percent. Around 91,000 kW of power are available today.
Two additional retractable and swiveling propeller pods, which were each installed in the bow in one of the former front ballast tanks and each deliver 5500 kW, strengthened the drive. Overall, the conversion increased the available drive power by more than 40 percent. The S 7000 is now more than 50 percent faster than the Thialf . By increasing the drive power, the laying or transfer time of the ship is reduced, which means cost savings for the client and thus a competitive advantage for Saipem.
Change to the DPS
The DPS computers were replaced by newer models from the Norwegian company Kongsberg : a triple redundant SDPM 31 system and an SDP 11 system, which is intended as a replacement in the event of a failure. The systems are provided with an uninterruptible power supply and are supported by a gyroscope-based inertial navigation system.
J-Lay tower
The hull, deck and the structure of the deck also had to be converted to accommodate the J-Lay tower, also a Gusto development , and its additional equipment. The J-Lay tower of the S 7000 , which was constructed by Huisman-Itrec in Rotterdam, is the largest in the world with a height of 135 m. It enables the laying of pipelines with a diameter of about 0.1 m to 0.8 m (4 to 32 inches) and a tensile stress of 5.25 meganewtons (MN) with three tensioning pulleys and up to 20 MN with friction clamps. Special components for pipelines up to a diameter of 1200 mm can also be handled in the tower.
Pipeline segments are automatically swiveled from the horizontal to the vertical position during laying. In the J-Lay tower of the S 7000 , pipelines up to 48.8 m in length, which are composed of four standard lengths of 12.2 m (corresponding to 40 feet) (also called quadruple joints or quadjoints ), can be processed. The pipelines can be laid with a section weight of up to 50 t and a wave height of up to 4 m. In use, the ship achieves a laying rate of up to 3 km per day.
The laying depth can be up to 3000 m below sea level. The laying angle of the pipeline is adjusted between 90 and 110 degrees. The welding and X-ray station and systems for coating the weld seam with plastics are integrated in the tower. The tower and all associated equipment have a total weight of 4500 t. Up to 6000 t of pipelines can be temporarily stored on the deck for laying. The J-Lay tower is self-erecting and can be assembled and disassembled with the S 7000's own cranes . As part of the renovation, another ship was modified by Saipem so that it can accommodate the J-Lay tower for transport.
Further modifications
As part of the renovation, new fuel tanks and a new CO 2 extinguishing system were installed. The steam boilers that were necessary to operate the steam hammers were removed and a new boiler house was built on the site of the ship's former carpentry shop. The pressure bulkheads for divers have been completely removed, as most of the underwater work is now carried out by diving robots . In spite of this, the S 7000 can continue to support divers, but now uses a container-based solution, so that the old infrastructure has become obsolete. To gain more space for equipment, two of the 16 anchors at the corners and their windlasses have been removed.
Dry dock phase
On December 11, 2007, the S 7000 was driven into dry dock for the first time in its 20-year service life. In the Keppel Verolme dock in Rotterdam , the entire hull was cleaned and given a new coating. In addition, maintenance work was carried out on the thrusters, the propeller pods and the valves of the ballast system and fast ballast system. In March 2008, the ship left the dock after the work was completed.
Use of the Saipem 7000
Use of the ship until the conversion
The ship carried out the first mission for Petrobras . The team installed seven platforms in the Campos Basin , where the largest oil deposits in Brazil are located. The M 7000 then worked for Conoco in the Jolliet field in the Gulf of Mexico . In 1989 the floating crane came to the North Sea for the first time , where it assembled the Gyda for BP , Togi for Norsk Hydro and the Veslefrikk for Statoil , which have since merged to StatoilHydro. In the 1990s, the M 7000 continued to work mainly on oil or gas platforms in the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, off the Canadian east coast and the west coast of Africa.
The ship - already renamed Saipem 7000 - was also involved in dismantling Esso's Odin platform . The 13,450 t gas platform was dismantled in 1996 on the instructions of the Norwegian government. The heaviest components were the technology and supply modules with the deck and a weight of around 5200 t. The 6176 t heavy substructure was first dismantled into five parts with a diving robot and then lifted. Similar to the planned sinking of the Brent Spar , the case attracted worldwide attention because the dismantling of the Odin platform made it clear that such large and heavy structures can also be dismantled from an economic point of view, and not just sunk as an artificial reef or have to be left with the pollutants it contains.
Today's missions, projects and records
In 2004 the S 7000 surpassed the Thialf's record for the largest load ever lifted with a floating crane when it lifted a deck of the Sabratha drilling platform in the Mediterranean with a weight of 12,100 t. This record was only broken in 2019 when the Sleipnir lifted the 15,300-tonne “Leviathan” platform.
The S 7000 also set the local record for the Gulf of Mexico in April 2007 when it lifted the 9,521 t deck of the PB-KU-A2 platform for PEMEX in full DPS operation. She broke her own record of December 14, 2006, when she installed the 9,025 t deck of the PB-KU-S .
The S 7000 was also able to deliver top performance in large underwater pipeline projects : for several years from 2002, it held the world record for the greatest depth in which a pipeline was ever installed. The 24-inch pipeline was laid for the Blue Stream project in the Black Sea at a depth of up to 2150 m. The record was broken by the Balder in 2005 when it laid parts of a pipeline at a depth of 2200 m as part of the Mardi Gras project in the Gulf of Mexico.
Since the major renovation, Saipem 7000 has also been working on the Diana project and laying the Langeled Pipeline , the second longest underwater pipeline in the world, to develop the Ormen-Lange gas field in the North Sea , in addition to carrying out the Blue Stream project . Although the S 7000 has carried out a large number of large pipeline projects, especially since it was expanded to include the J-Lay tower, the focus of its work remains on heavy-duty use when installing and converting platforms and modules as well as dismantling. The main areas of application are the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
Serious accidents on board
On March 24, 2003, an Italian Saipem worker died 10 days after a serious accident that occurred on March 14, 2003 inside a container with a diesel generator. The Saipem 7000 was in at the time of the accident due to the weather in the North Sea to a waiting position by a crane for an enhancement project from Statoil at the Vigdis perform.
A fatal accident occurred on August 12, 2007 while a heavy-duty crane was being used for Statoil in the Tordis field, when a worker was probably thrown overboard by a hydraulic line that suddenly tightened. After a search with helicopters and escort ships, the corpse of the Filipino worker was found around an hour and a half later by a diving robot of the S 7000 at a depth of 200 m. An investigation into the accident by the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) revealed numerous violations of rules and procedures on the part of Statoil and Saipem. This was the first fatal oil industry accident on the Norwegian shelf since 2002.
In a crane accident on board the S 7000 on September 16, 2008, four workers were killed and four others injured when a segment of the pipeline fell. The accident occurred as part of the Medgaz underwater pipeline project between Algeria and Spain.
Technical specifications
Dimensions:
- Total length: 197.95 m
- Width: 87 m
- Deck size (upper platform): 175 m × 87 m × 8.5 m
- Deck size (lower pontoon): 165 m × 33 m × 11.25 / 15.25 m
- Draft: 10.5-27.5 m
- Height of the deck above water level: 45 m
Ballast system:
- Ballast tanks: 40 tanks with 83,700 m 3
- Trim pumps: 4 × 6,000 m 3 / h
- Free-flow ballast tanks: 14 tanks with 26,000 m 3
Others:
- Deck area: 9,000 m 2
- Total load-bearing capacity of the deck: 15,000 t
- Cruising speed: 9.5 knots
See also
Web links
- Saipem 7000 on the website of Saipem (English, reviewed on April 11, 2010)
- Download link to the Saipem 7000 brochure on Saipem (English, PDF, 828 kB, accessed on April 11, 2010)
Footnotes
- ↑ a b c d e f technical and administrative data on RINA , accessed on March 4, 2011
- ↑ Saipem-Vessels - Saipem 7000 , accessed March 4, 2011
- ↑ Brief history of the SSCVs on GlobalSecurity (accessed April 16, 2009)
- ↑ Saipem's company history on Speitaly.org ( accessed on April 19, 2009) ( Memento from November 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b c d e f brochure from GustoMSC with technical data (English, PDF file, 543 kB, accessed on April 6, 2009) ( Memento of the original from April 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link became automatic used and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Brochure with technical data for the Saipem 7000 on Saipem Eni (English, PDF file, 812 kB, accessed on April 6, 2009) ( Memento of the original from June 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c d e f Information on the conversion on the website of Keppel Verolme (English, PDF file, 132 kB, viewed on April 7, 2009) ( Memento of the original from April 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: Der Archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Data on the Blue Stream and the pipelines on the Saipem website (English, PDF file, 6.13 MB, accessed on April 7, 2009) ( Memento of the original from April 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info : The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Information on the planning of the Medgaz (English, accessed on April 14, 2009)
- ↑ Picture of the S 7000 in the dry dock of Keppel Verolme (viewed on April 17, 2009)
- ↑ Report on docking on Maritime-Executive (English, accessed on April 16, 2009) ( Memento of the original from April 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Eurogrit with a report on the maintenance work (English, accessed on April 16, 2009) ( Memento of the original from April 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Keppel Verolme website with a report on the maintenance work and numerous pictures (English, viewed on August 7, 2009) ( Memento of the original from November 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ greenpeace magazine with data on dismantling the Esso Odin (accessed on April 13, 2009)
- ↑ Information about the installation of the Sabratha on Lloyds Register (English, accessed on April 5, 2009) ( Memento of the original from November 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ World record: Heerema's crane vessel Sleipnir lifts 15,300 tons. Heerema, September 8, 2019, accessed March 31, 2020 .
- ↑ Report on the record in the Gulf of Mexico on EnergyCurrent (English, accessed on April 6, 2009) ( Memento of the original from April 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Message about the record at PB-KU-A2 on Subseazone (English, accessed on April 6, 2009) ( Memento of the original from April 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Report in Offshore Magazine about the Mardi Gras project (accessed April 5, 2009)
- ^ Accident report on Oilpubs (English, accessed on April 14, 2009)
- ↑ Accident report on Rigzone (English, accessed on April 13, 2009)
- ↑ Short report on the accident on the PSA website (English, accessed on April 13, 2009) ( Memento of the original from April 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Information about the accident on Upstreamonline (English, accessed on April 14, 2009) ( Memento of the original from April 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Accident report on CranesToday (English, viewed on April 13, 2009) ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Inquiry to the European Parliament due to the accident (accessed on April 13, 2009)
