Ship Photos: Pioneering Spirit Lifts Massive 11,000-Metric-Ton Steel Jacket

Another milestone for the world’s strongest heavy lift vessel.

Allseas is reported that the Pioneering Spirit successfully lifted the 11,000 metric-ton jacket for the Gyda platform in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. Allseas said the lifting of the jacket was one of the heaviest ever conducted.

Allseas is decommissiong the 30,000 mt Gyda platform for Repsol Norge. The job involves the removal of the 18,400 mt topsides and 11,200 mt jacket, plus dozens of smaller jacket conductors and a template.

With the delivery of the jacket to Aker Solutions’ disposal yard in Stord, Norway, Pioneering Spirit concludes the platform removal project.

Allseas says the operation to remove the entire installation took just 12 days spanning two seperate campaigns. Pioneering Spirit used its to forward topsides lifting system to lift the Gyda topsides for transport Aker in May. The jacket was delivered to the yard in less than 48 hours after it was cut and lifted.

Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit is the largest offshore construction vessel ever built. The catamaran-like vessel is designed for quick single-lift installation and removal of large oil and gas platforms weighing up to 48,000 mt. The ship entered service in 2016 and has already set a number of offshore lifting records, including the world record for the heaviest single-lift with the removal of the 24,000 mt Brent Delta platform in 2017.

Pioneering Spirit was recently fitted with a revolutionary new Jacket lift system (JLS), mounted on its stern, that is fundamentally different from the vessel’s forward u-shaped lifting system. The JLS system utilizes two 170-meter-tall lifting beams placed side-by-side that lift and support structures in a near-vertical position, helping to maintain the integrity of the massive structures during transport.

To facilitate the Gyda jacket removal, the structure’s 24 foundation piles were cut below seabed level, while Pioneering Spirit’s main hoist blocks were connected to pre-installed rigging allowing the entire 11,000 mt structure to be lifted at once.

“Our mission at Allseas is to remain a frontrunner in the offshore energy market by pioneering ground-breaking technology to meet the industry’s ever-changing needs,” says Allseas President Edward Heerema. “The Gyda platform removal strengthens our reputation as a game changer in the industry. Again we have shown that Pioneering Spirit provides a significantly faster, safer, more efficient and sustainable option for the removal and installation of offshore facilities.”

So far this year, Pioneering Spirit has already lifted and transported more than 90,000 metric tons of decommissioned and new offshore facilities for the offshore energy industry, using both its Jacket lift and Topsides lift systems.

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