Damen to Deliver Pontoon to AG&P ALE, Australia

Damen Shipyards will deliver a large-scale, 140 m tailor-made pontoon, the Damen Hydro Deck, to AG&P ALE Ventures for a project in Darwin, Australia.

The huge Hydro Deck, a 140 m x 40 m Module Offloading Facility Transition Pontoon is being built for large and specialist transport and lifting jobs. The heavy lift pontoon will be permanently stationed in Darwin where the LNG plant will be based.

Construction work is due to start very soon at one of Damen’s specialist pontoon partner yards: Yahua of Nantong in China. The Hydro Deck has a depth of 12 m and has the ability to rise and fall to compensate for the 8 m tidal difference in Darwin by using air compression and water ballasting. This unique pontoon, which is the largest Damen has ever built, has ballast water tanks with a capacity of 37,000 cu m.

The Damen Hydro Deck will be used to handle transition pieces and modules coming from Asia as the large seagoing vessels bringing the modules in cannot offload given the significant tidal difference. AG&P ALE’s Self-Propelled Modular Transporters will be deployed to transport the modules on and off the pontoon.

Jeroen van Woerkum, Damen Sales Manager Benelux, says: “Damen is extremely proud to build this unique pontoon for such an important project. Although this is a very remote and challenging location, we have engineered a viable and efficient solution.”

Engineering started a while ago and Damen Shipyards will order the steel shortly, enabling this exceptional pontoon to be delivered in December 2013.

Pontoons under construction

Around 10 other pontoons are currently under construction, including a Damen Stan Pontoon 9127 (91 x 27 m), a newly designed Damen Crane Barge 6324 (with a Liebherr CBG350 crane for transshipment works), a Stan Pontoon 8624, a Crane Pontoon 80 x 25 m (sold to BAM International) and two Stan Pontoons 5224, which have wooden decks and are fitted for the use of a crawler crane (Liebherr LR 1400 or equivalent).

One of these has already been sold to a Middle Eastern client. Smaller units are also under construction. In addition, 15 pontoons have just been transported from China to the port of Rotterdam. In line with Damen’s philosophy several of these pontoons will be placed in stock to enable fast delivery to potential clients.

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LNG World News Staff, December 5, 2012; Image: Damen