VIDEO: Giant Pioneering Spirit Sets Sail for Norway

Pioneering Spirit, Allseas’ single-lift platform installation, decommissioning and pipelay vessel, departed Rotterdam on August 6, 2016, and is now ready for offshore trials.

Pioneering Spirit was moored in Rotterdam since January 2015 for installation, commissioning and testing of the topside system.

The vessel will now head to the Southern North Sea to perform offshore trials throughout August, which will include a series of test platform topsides installation and removal exercises under varying weather conditions.

After completing the trials, Pioneering Spirit is expected to sail north to the Yme field, offshore Norway, to remove the 13,000-ton Yme mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) for Repsol.

Following removal of the platform, the vessel will return to Rotterdam, where the remaining four topsides lifting beams will be installed for the Shell Brent Delta topsides removal, scheduled for summer 2017.

Built by South Korean shipbuilder Dawoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, the twin-hulled vessel features a length of 382 meters and a width of 124 meters. In addition, it has an accommodation space for 571 persons.

Video Courtesy: Allseas