Norwegian oil company Statoil has informed that on Friday, at 14:30 local time in South Korea the world’s largest spar, Aasta Hansteen, left Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard, heading for Norway.
The spar is being transported on the heavy transport vessel, Dockwise Vanguard. The journey is 14,500 nautical miles and will take approximately two months, Statoil informed through social media channels on Friday.
According to the oil company, the spar’s first touch point will be in Høylandsbygd, Sunnhordland where it will be floated off the heavy transport vessel before it is upended in Klosterfjorden and then towed to Digernessundet.
Hyundai Heavy was in charge of building both the lower hull and the topsides of the platform. Statoil further said that the topsides will follow the spar in about four months. The complete gas platform will then be towed to the Norwegian Sea and the Aasta Hansteen field during next year.
While initially scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2017, the production from the field was postponed in October 2015, due to delays in construction of the platform, with first gas now expected in 2018.
The Aasta Hansteen field, discovered in 1997, is located in the Norwegian Sea. Statoil is the operator of the field with 51 percent interest, with Wintershall, OMV and ConocoPhillips as partners with 24%, 15% and 10% interest, respectively.
Offshore Energy Today Staff