Boskalis confirms ‘Black Marlin’ tilted in Malaysian yard

Dutch maritime company Boskalis has confirmed that one of its heavy-lift vessels was involved in a tilting incident in Malaysia.

In an e-mail sent to Offshore Energy Today this morning, the company’s spokesperson said that the incident occurred at around 11.00 pm on 26 March, while the load-out of ExxonMobil’s Tapis R topsides deck was being performed on the Black Marlin vessel, owned by Dockwise, a subsidiary of Boskalis, at the Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd (MMHE) Pasir Gudang yard.

“An unplanned movement of the topsides and the vessel Black Marlin occurred during the load-out. The vessel and topsides have since been stabilized.”

“Since 4 April 2014, the Black Marlin has been restored to even keel and the Tapis R topsides have been positioned at the installation location on the vessel deck. Sea fastening activities and other vessel and deck preparations are progressing in preparation for the soonest practical sail away. MMHE is taking the lead in responding to this incident and continues to assess the impact to the project schedule,”  the spokesperson said.

Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.