Gudrun Is Almost Ready for the North Sea

Gudrun is almost ready for her journey into the North Sea. Today the platform deck was moved to the barge at the yard in Haugesund.

The operation of moving the enormous structure started in the morning of June 18. It took the entire day.

This afternoon a relieved and satisfied Aibel project director, Jon Garborg, could ascertain that the final lap is approaching.

“This is the final major marine operation Aibel is involved in the project. We have done a really good job so far,” he says.

Hard work

When work started, parts of the platform deck protruded out to sea. Trailers were placed under the deck and the barge was ballasted. This was done to ensure that the trailers had the correct load.

“The fact that it hung out over the sea made the operation somewhat special,” Garborg explains. He adds that they always ensured that the barge was properly moored and that the moorings were adjusted with jacks to ensure that the trailers would have a dead straight path.

12,000 tons, including platform and foundations, were then moved 80 metres. Almost 1,800 wheels on 440 axles were required to move the giant to the barge.

“Fantastic”

Ståle Nordal is project director for Gudrun at Statoil. He was also pleased with the moving operation today:

“What a fantastic day. The sun is shining, there are a lot of people around, and now we are close to launching Gudrun into the sea.”

“The safety record on Gudrun is excellent. We are proud of the job that is being done here in Haugesund. This is and will remain a story of success,” he says.

Sails in July

Gudrun was wheeled out of the North Sea Hall (Nordsjøhallen) in April. The past months have been spent on testing, completion and handover of systems. The platform deck completed its second to final lap.

“There are still a few weeks of hard work left to finalize details,” Jon Garborg says.

The sailing date will probably be between the 17 and 24 of July.

“The way things are looking, we will deliver the deck to Statoil as planned,” the project director says.

“We have every reason to be proud,” he concludes.

[mappress]

Aibel, June 21, 2013