The quarters and utilities platform jacket has sailed away to the Shah Deniz contract area in the Caspian Sea from the Heydar Aliyev Baku Deepwater Jackets Factory (BDJF).
The QU platform jacket weighs approximately 12,084 tonnes and stands 105 metres high. It contains 31 J Tubes, 7 utility caissons and 3 J tube caissons. The jacket will be installed in a water depth of 95 metres.
The transportation, launch, positioning, pile installation and final completion activities of the jacket structure are expected to take around 75 days, depending on the prevailing weather conditions.
The construction of the jacket was completed ahead of schedule on February 20, 2017 and was then successfully loaded onto the transportation barge STB-1 at the quayside of BDJF.
The QU platform jacket, built by the BOS Shelf, Star Gulf and Saipem consortium, was fully constructed in country at the BDJF, using local construction infrastructure and facilities. 2000 people including sub-contractors and specialist vendors were involved in the construction works.
Ewan Drummond , vice president, Shah Deniz 2 projects, said: “The second jacket sail away is the first major milestone planned for this year and we are pleased to have achieved it ahead of schedule.
“2017 is an important year for BP and for the Shah Deniz 2 project, which is already around 90% complete. We have planned a series of key completion milestones for this year. We are committed to achieving all of these milestones on schedule to make BP’s 25th anniversary celebrations in Azerbaijan a big success.
“On this occasion, I would like to thank SOCAR and our partners for their support and cooperation in moving this giant project forward. My thanks are also to all people representing BP, contractors and subcontractors whose hard work has made it possible to achieve this milestone ahead of schedule. I would like to specifically thank the BOS Shelf, Star Gulf and Saipem consortium for their firm commitment to BP’s safety standards throughout the 22-month construction period of this jacket.”