Boka Vanguard (ex. Dockwise Vanguard), the world’s largest heavy lift, and transportation vessel has reached Norway after a two-month journey from South Korea, carrying the Johan Sverdrup field processing platform topside.
The processing platform, built by Samsung Heavy Industries, is one of four platforms that make up the Johan Sverdrup field center in the first phase of the project in the North Sea, offshore Norway.
The others are the riser platform (RP) and the drilling platform (DP), installed in 2018, and the Utility and Living Quarter (ULQ) which together with the processing platform will be installed during spring 2019.
The processing platform will handle the processing and refining of all oil and gas from the first phase of Johan Sverdrup. It has the capacity for 440,000 barrels of oil per day. In the second phase of Johan Sverdrup the field centre will be extended with another processing platform (P2) with capacity for an additional 220,000 barrels of oil per day.
The processing topside weighs approximately 28,100 tons and measures 139 meters long, 69 meters wide, and 72 meters tall.
The topside will now be offloaded from the semi-submersible transportation vessel at the Kværner yard in Stord where two pedestal cranes will be mounted, and further preparations will be made, before it is to be lifted into position at the Johan Sverdrup field in one single lift by the Pioneering Spirit vessel in the spring of 2019.
Equinor is the operator of the Johan Sverdrup field with a 40.0267% interest and its partners are Lundin Norway (22.6%), Petoro (17.36%), Aker BP (11.5733%), and Total (8.44%).
The Johan Sverdrup field is on track to start production in November as planned, Chief Executive Eldar Saetre told Reuters earlier this month.
Offshore Energy Today Staff