Fairmount Marine’s powerful tugs Fairmount Sherpa and Fairmount Summit have delivered FPSO Skarv Idun in the port of Stord, Norway. The two tugs needed just 92 days for the long distance tow of about 15.300 nautical miles from Samsung Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Okpo, South Korea. The towage was executed under command of Fairmount’s lead tow master captain Bertus Glas and was completed with an average speed of 7.0 knots including stops.
The Skarv Idun is a large floating production storage and offloading unit and will be used by BP to exploit the oil and gas fields Skarv and Idun, located just below the Arctic circle in the northern Norwegian Sea. The FPSO is 292 meters long, 50.6 meters wide, has a towing draught of 12.2 meters and has a deadweight of 128.000 ton. A crew between 65 and 100 was on board Skarv Idun during the passage for on the job training, running the vessel, surveillance and providing marine support to the tug crews.
Fairmount Sherpa and Fairmount Summit have a combined bollard pull of over 200 tons. The long distance tow was done via Singapore and Cape of Good Hope. Last weekend the tow passed the English Channel. “The towage is completed is just 92 days, including stops for bunkers, other supplies and crew changes – exactly in line with the original planning,’’ says Albert J. de Heer, ceo of Fairmount Marine. “Considering the enormous distance this is a great achievement.’’
FPSO Skarv Idun will stay in the port of Stord for some time for final fitting out and last preparations. A specialized team of Fairmount will position and moore the Skarv Idun later this month off the Norwegian coast. Production of the fields is foreseen to start-up in the third quarter of this year.
Fairmount Marine is a marine contractor for ocean towage and heavy lift transportation, headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Fairmount’s fleet of tugs consists of five modern super tugs of 205 tons bollard pull each, especially designed for long distance towing.