| Details |
NMT Intl FZCO, Dubai have been awarded this job in collaboration with Halliburton Energy Services for Plug & Abandon 6 oilwells at Safiniya 51 offshore Platform in the Arabian Gulf for Saudi Aramco. The job started mid March 2013. It involved the supply of a crane-accomodation barge for min. 200 persons and equipped with 200mT pedestal crane, an additional crawler crane of 50 Tonnes and helicopter deck. The barge was fitted with a 8 point mooring system with 1080ft of anchorchain/wire. In addition, NMT Dubai supplied 3 anchor handling tug/supply vessels ranging from 90 to 120 Tonnes bollard pull for assisting and manoeuvring the barge. The safety requirements were very high obviously so NMT Dubai arranged to have all crew certified as per Aramco standards, passing Marlin test and to attend H2S safety course for working in oilwell environment (Hydrogen sulfide gas danger).
Furthermore NMT Dubai provided full boarding and lodging services for the entire compliment of the crane barge. As well as providing full H2S support which envisaged providing over 300 fully equipped escape suits and a full back up support to refill all the BA sets whilst at the platform, also a complete H2S alarm system was fitted throughout the Barge and Tugs to monitor H2S gas during plugging operations. Additionally, a full Barge Management System was installed on board to monitor the vessels position, the BMS system required vessel to be fitted with two gyros, azimuth repeaters and other instrumentation.
Prior to the crane barge departing for the platform, NMT Dubai arranged for the outfitting work which was carried out at Sharjah Hamriyah port. The entire outfitting work was monitoredunder stringent Aramco approved inspectors, which has been the greatest challenge for the Dubai office. Several new fittings were installed on the barge new flare boom, additional diesel pipe lines, modified towing lugs, additional life raft cradles, modification to the davit for emergency boat launching, and all loose fittings were subject to drop test inspections and had to be covered. Several 8 point mooring plans were also provided to Aramco for approval. These mooring plans had to show the crane barge position at the platform, with emergency pull off methods, we also had to show in the mooring plan the location of buoys which were to be used to keep the mooring wires clear of all pipelines at the sea bed. As the barge anchors could not be used at the platform for obvious reasons, NMT Dubai provided gravity anchors for mooring purpose. Each anchor was 88 Tonnes and had to be fabricated from scratch.
Work has been completed at the platform on 2nd October 2013 and decommissioning work has meanwhile been completed and all equipment has been offhired at Sharjah Hamriyah port by end of October 2013. The job has been a serious challenge for all parties involved but with the joint effort and focus we may conclude that, although complicated, it has been a successful operation. |