Wagenborg: ‘Walk-to-Work’ Vessel for Dutch North Sea

Wagenborg 'Walk-to-Work' Vessel for Dutch North Sea

NAM, the Dutch national gas company, has selected Wagenborg to support offshore operations for a period of 10 years. Wagenborg has commissioned Niestern Sander from Delfzijl to build a ship: the ‘’Walk-to-Work’’ Vessel.

Wagenborg has described the ship as a ” truly unique vessel that will play a crucial role in maintenance and servicing of NAM production platforms in the North Sea. The project is good news for employment in the Groningen Province.”

The vessel is scheduled for delivery early 2015.

On Thursday July 11th, NAM and shipyard Wagenborg from Delfzijl signed a cooperation agreement.

More safe, efficient, effective and productive

The Walk-to-Work vessel will enable NAM to execute work activities on production platforms for offshore gas production more safely, efficiently, effectively and in a more productive manner.

The vessel combines a range of functionalities. The vessel offers space for twenty crew and two shifts to accommodate a total of forty maintenance and service staff. Chemicals can be safely stored, transported and moved to platforms and a crane has been designed to compensate movement, allowing it to move heavy loads. Wells can be re-started by use of a mobile installation.

Walk to work, one hundred miles offshore

The fully integrated Ampelmann-system enables a safe offshore work environment, with waves of up to 2.5 meters. This innovative technology, designed in the Netherlands, allows staff to safely move between vessel and platform: ‘walk to work at sea’.

The vessel can deliver a substantial cost reduction through the efficient employment of both staff and materials. Offshore, the Walk-to-Work vessel delivers value by allowing service and maintenance staff to work on several different platforms on one route. The vessel effectively gives the team a workplace, a storage facility, a hotel and transport.

Employment

The Niestern Sander shipyard in Delfzijl will employ roughly 80 staff for the next 18 months to work on the Vessel. In addition to that, a large number of subcontractors and suppliers from the region are involved in the project.

Approximately 1250 tons of steel will be used to build the vessel. Excluding equipment, the vessel weighs 1,250 000 kilos. Roughly 1,000 tons of materials will be built into the vessel.

[mappress]
July 12, 2013