Van Oord sets new world record for subsea rock installation

Van Oord has set a new world record by carrying out subsea rock installation works in a water depth of 1,364 meters, a distance said to be comparable to almost five times the length of the Eiffel Tower.

The activities were conducted by the company’s flexible fallpipe vessel Stornes at the Sangomar field in Senegal.

Subsea 7 contracted Van Oord to install 262.000 tonnes of rock in water depths ranging from 800 to the record depth of 1,364 meters for the stabilization and protection of subsea infrastructure at the project.

The Sangomar field, discovered in 2014, is located approximately 100 kilometers south of Dakar and will be Senegal’s first offshore oil development. First oil production is expected in the fourth quarter of this year.

Due to the remote project location, the rock is supplied to the vessel by a ship-to-ship transfer method, Van Oord said.