Under the contract on construction of a jack-up drilling rig for Lamprell, a cantilever (drilling facility) was rolled onto Neptun offshore platform on Caspian Energy Group production site. It was the first time that a 1,300-ton drilling facility was moved by means of hydraulic gear on the yards of Astrakhan region.
As you may recall, in November 2010, Lamprell Energy Ltd. awarded a contract to Eurasia Drilling Company Ltd. on production of a jack-up drilling rig of S116E type. Modules and other rig components were manufactured at the contractor’s plant in a city of Hamriyah (UAE) throughout 2011. The first batch of equipment was shipped in March 2012. Construction of the rig itself is ongoing on site of Astrakhan Shipbuilding Production Association. This drilling rig was set afloat on December 25 last year.
According to the contract conditions, completion of rig construction is happening on the float in ASPA water area and includes erection of deck equipment and testing. By March 2013, three legs of the rig were fixed under water, and activities to construct supporting members of the cantilever with the drilling facility on top of it were winding down. This facility had to be drawn over the offshore platform.
In January 2013, when Lamprell addressed Mammoet Rus, the cantilever weighed 1,196 tons and was 72 meters high. By the moment the drawing started, its weight reached 1,265 tons with the same height of 72 meters. 24 non-propelled Goldhofer THP/SL axles in combination with 36 self-propelled axles of Scheuerle SPMT were used for transportation – as of today, this is the only project involving two completely different types of transport modules.
For distribution of cantilever weight among the modules, Lamprell manufactured the girders composed of welded I-beams. But they demonstrated insufficient stiffness during the trial lift. Solution was proposed by experienced Mammoet Europe supervisors who were clear-sightedly invited to participate in this project. As a result of this, the issue was resolved within one day with minimum of labor and financial losses. To fix the cantilever on the platform, it had to be slid inside the holders along the guides given the gap of just several millimeters – the task which was perfectly managed by Mammoet Europe and Mammoet Rus specialists. The whole project took one week: from the moment the first truck appeared on construction site until all the modules were transported.
The drilling platform is planned to be handed over to the client in summer 2013.