Updated: LaNaval Delivers World’s Largest Fall Pipe Vessel

LaNaval has delivered to Jan De Nul Group the Fall Pipe & Mining Vessel “Joseph Plateau” a sister vessel of the “Simon Stevin”. Both of them are the largest of its kind in the world.

This Fall Pipe & Mining Vessel has the main activity in the offshore market which requires the installation of electric cables and gas pipes at large water depths. The Joseph Plateau is a high performance vessel, technically complex and unique in the market. She is focused on the deployment of rocks through a guide pipe up to 2,000 m water depth. The vessel has a capacity of transport 33,500 tons of stones. The main function is to cover cables, pipes or fix structures associated to the oil & gas. This kind of process requires GPS dynamic positioning system for maintaining the position regardless the sea conditions.

The vessel uses a moon pool for downloading the ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) which positions the pipe for the correct deployment of the stones in the sea bed with an accuracy of 10cm. She has two hoppers on deck for the storage of all the stones that are transport to the center of the module by two conveyor belts. The vessel has four azimuthing thrusters for propulsion as well as four thrusters for maneuvering purposes.

On board there is capacity for 84 people.

The electric plant of the vessel has a very important role, because of that there are 400 hundred kilometers of cable and a total power of 22,500 kW, enough for supplying electricity to a 30,000 people city. The total weight of steel is 13,000 t but adding the equipments on board the weight of the vessel is almost 20,000 t.

The Joseph Plateau is the ninth vessel built for Jan De Nul since 2002 at LaNaval´s yard. This long and fruitful relation is the result of the capacity of LaNaval to achieve complex projects and the confident built between LaNaval and Jan De Nul Group. LaNaval is specialized in the design and construction of sophisticated vessels becoming in one of the few European shipyards able to assume the construction of this type of ships.

Jan De Nul decided to build this sister vessel of the Simon Stevin to attend the increasing demand worldwide.

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Press Release, April 12, 2013