Aasta Hansteen LQ completed in Netherlands

CKT Projects, a Dutch company building accommodation modules for the offshore oil and gas industry, is set to make a milestone when it delivers the living quarters (LQ) for Norway’s first deepwater development project, the Aasta Hansteen.

According to CKT, it took the company more than two years of engineering and building to complete the living quarters. Several hundred people took part in the process.

The load out for the completed LQ is scheduled for next week, after which, the unit will be placed on the Dockwise Vanguard vessel, and will sail away to South Korea to be mounted on the Aasta Hansteen topsides.

Once installed, the unit will offer accommodation to Statoil’s employees aboard the first spar platform ever deployed in Norway. The platform is being built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, and will be moored in the Norwegian Sea, 300 km west of Bodø.

As for the living quarters’ particulars, CKT Projects says that the unit has been designed to take 108 people. The company says that, given the fact the platform will be moored above the Arctic Circle, the massive, eight-storey LQ has been built to withstand the most extreme weather conditions.

Built in Rotterdam, the Aasta Hansteen living quarters comprise among other things: cabins for 108 people, a hospital, a kitchen, a restaurant, a fitness room, a recreation room, a sauna, meeting rooms, offices, a control room, a laundry, an elevator, cinema, helicopter traffic control tower and a helicopter deck.

As for the platform itself, Hyundai Heavy Industries is building both, the lower hull and the topsides in South Korea. Once done, the two platform parts will be will be shipped to Norway on separate heavy lift vessels, for final assembly.

Statoil, the operator of the development recently said the production from the field would be delayed due to delays in construction of the platform. First gas is now expected in 2018, and not in the third quarter of 2017 as previously planned.

The Aasta Hansteen Spar will be the first Spar deployed in Norwegian waters, the first Spar concept chosen by Statoil and the largest ever built with a total hull length of 195 meters.

Offshore Energy Today Staff