PHOTOS: Jack/St. Malo Platform Delivered to U.S. Gulf of Mexico

Here’s a series of photos showing the three phase delivery of the massive semi-submersible floating production facility, Jack/St. Malo, approximately 280 miles south of New Orleans, Louisiana.

With the help of Crowley’s new Ocean-class tugs, the Jack/St. Malo platform was recently successfully moored and made storm safe at a depth of 7,000 feet between the Jack and St. Malo offshore oil and natural gas fields, operated by Chevron, located within 25 miles of each other in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

For the operation, Crowley’s Houston-based “Solutions” project management team, which was also behind the recent successful delivery of the Olympus platform and Lucius spar to the U.S. Gulf, oversaw and completed the delivery in three stages:

During the first stage, the nearshore phase, the topsides were skidded onto Crowley’s 455 series barge Julie B at the Keiwit facility dock in Ingleside, Texas, in Corpus Christi, where they were later lifted and installed onto the hull of Jack/St. Malo. Once in place and secured, the Ocean Wind and Ocean Wave next provided assistance by pushing the Jack/St. Malo facility, away from Corpus Christi, through the Port of Aransas, Texas, and out to deeper waters. The Ocean Sun followed the flotilla and was equipped to provide assistance, if needed.

The second phase of work, the offshore phase, included the relocation of the platform to deeper waters. Above, the Ocean Wind and Ocean Sun towed the facility to its final location, alongside the Crowley-contracted tugboat Harvey War Horse II.

Also during this phase, the Solutions team arranged for the Crowley’s 455 series barge 455 7, towed by Crowley’s tug Warrior, and third-party barge Marmac 400, towed by Crowley’s tug Pilot, to deliver the piles, or long pipe-like structures that serve as anchors for the platform, to the project site. Finally, the Marty J, towed by the Pilot, made three subsequent trips to the installation site to deliver additional equipment – including chains, connectors and line reels – that were used in the mooring of the floating facility.

In the final stage, the positioning phase, the Ocean Wind, Ocean Wave, Ocean Sky, Ocean Sun and Harvey War Horse II worked together to hold the Jack/St. Malo in its final location, and remained on site in a star pattern to provide support as the spar was connected to its moorings and made storm safe in more than 7,000 feet of water.

Jack/St. Malo Platform

Scheduled to begin producing oil and natural gas later this year, the Jack/St. Malo facility will be operated by Chevron and have a capacity of 170,000 barrels of oil per day and 42.5 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas. The facility will act as a hub for the 43 subsea wells, including pumps and other equipment on the seafloor.

Last year, the 56,000 metric ton hull was transported from the Samsung Heavy Industries yard in Geoje, South Korea, where it was constructed, to the Kiewit yard in Ingleside, Texas onboard the new heavy-lift vessel, Dockwise Vanguard.

Crowley’s Ocean Class Tugs

Crowley’s ocean class tugs are modern ocean towing twin-screw vessels with controllable pitch propellers (CPP) in nozzles, high-lift rudders and more than 147 MT bollard pull. The first two ocean class vessels, Ocean Wave and Ocean Wind, are classed as Dynamic Positioning 1 (DP1) tugboats and are twin-screw, tugs with an overall length of 146 feet, beam of 46 feet, hull depth of 25 feet and design draft of 21 feet. The second two tugs of the class, Ocean Sky and Ocean Sun, are classed as DP2 and are 10 feet longer. All four vessels are capable of rig moves, platform and Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit tows, emergency response, salvage support and firefighting.

“This was another successful pairing of Crowley’s new ocean class tugboats and high-deck strength barges,” said Crowley’s John Ara, vice president, solutions. “Not only was the project completed safely and on time, but it also helps to illustrate the increasing competence and capability of our crew and vessels. We look forward to utilizing these specialized teams and assets in projects in the future.”

Crew Shout-out

Crewmembers involved in the project include Captains Charles Alan Williams, Andrew C. Ashworth, Ted Caffy, Brian Cain, Stuart B. Andrews Jr., Stephen Berschger, Laurence Christie and Ward P. Davis; Chief Mates Darrel Koonce, Dustin Marks, Clyde McNatt, James Hoffman and Scott R. Ellis; Chief Engineers RD Lewis, Charles Pate, Scott Bovee and Edgar C. Henson; Able-Bodied Seamen Terry Laviolette, Ryan Landers, Dave Heindel, Orvin McCoy, Preston Harper, Farrell Bodden, Steven Kendrick, Jonathan Solomon, Corey Hill, Satchel G. Caffy, Ben E. Johnson and Edward J. Rynn; Assistant Engineers Micheal Bibby, Keith Smith, Matthew Hamer, Andralesia Terrell, Richard A. Saunders, James H. Murray, Thomas Murphy and Isaac Levine; Second Mates Travis Cheer, Nate Leachman, Eric A. Eaton, Cecil Wilson and Ray Adams; Third Mate Scott M. Tompkins; Dynamic Positioning Officer John Willson; and Ordinary Seamen and/or Cooks Johnny Godwin, Stephen R. Goletz, Rene Fuentes, Evan Flynn and Glen Williams.