Tyra module installation breaks world record as ‘heaviest crane lift ever undertaken at sea’

Heerema Marine Contractors’ giant heavy-lift vessel Sleipnir has completed an offshore lift of the Tyra II process module for TotalEnergies’ Tyra redevelopment project in the Danish North Sea.

The lift of the 17,000 tons heavy process module was performed on Tuesday morning, breaking a world record as the heaviest crane lift ever undertaken at sea, according to TotalEnergies’ update.

McDermott completed the load out of the Tyra East G (TEG) gas processing module in the yard in Batam, Indonesia in August. The module sailed away from the yard at the beginning of September but in an incomplete state with additional work to be completed offshore.

Transported directly to the Tyra field by heavy lift vessel GPO Emerald, the TEG module arrived there on 3 October. The module is 47 meters tall, measures a total floor area of 16,300 square meters, and weighs 17,000 metric tons – equivalent to the weight of more than two Eiffel Towers.

After the module arrived at the Tyra field, the offshore crew went immediately into action mode and started to remove the sea fastening below the 47-meters-tall module. Thanks to great weather conditions, the crane drivers got the green light to lift the module into its final position hours after its arrival and four days ahead of schedule.

With Sleipnir’s two enormous crane hooks, the team picked up the module from the transport vessel. Afterwards, they sailed one nautical mile to the final bare jacket while they raised the module by nine meters to then lower it onto the six legs.

Following the successful lift, all eight platforms are now in their final position, and Tyra II is several steps closer to producing gas for decades.

In the coming weeks, the final Tyra II pieces – two bridges and a flare – will be installed, completing the project’s final offshore lifting and installation campaign. When all connections are welded, the Installation Team will hand over the baton to the Hook-up and Commissioning team who will focus on completing and powering up the installed platforms and reconnecting them to the existing North Sea infrastructure.

Lars Bo Christiansen, Project Director Deputy for TotalEnergies EP Denmark, commented: “Finally, Tyra II is in place. The team has been preparing this world record lift for years, and it was truly impressive to see how the planning culminated in just six hours when the world’s largest crane vessel Sleipnir helped us to put the enormous new process module into final position.

“I’m very pleased that we executed this crucial lift ahead of schedule in our new project plan. Only three more lifts to complete and then our new Tyra II will be in its final shape.”

At peak, the process module will be able to process 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day which is coming from both Tyra and five unmanned satellite fields, namely Tyra Southeast, Harald, Valdemar, Svend and Roar.

As previously reported, there has been some delay with the project due to global supply chain challenges. As a result, the first gas date has recently been revised to winter 2023 / 2024.

Once the modernized Tyra II is back on stream, it is expected to deliver 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas per year which amounts to 80 per cent of the forecasted Danish gas production.