The largest jacket ever designed and fabricated at Heerema Fabrication Group (HFG) is on its way to its final destination, the Valemon gasfield on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in a water depth of approximately 135 metres and about 160 kilometers west of Bergen, Norway.
The 9,150 tonnes Statoil jacket set sail from the Heerema Vlissingen on May 26.
In-House Design
The 160 metre high jacket for the Valemon process platform was designed and fabricated in less than 2 years, after the contract award in September 2010. In March 2011 Statoil also awarded HFG the contract to design and fabricate the 210 tonnes weighing wellhead module. The jacket and wellhead module were both designed by HFG’s in-house design company HFG Engineering and the fabrication contract was awarded to Heerema Vlissingen yard.
Drilling Before Platform Completion
The design of the Valemon jacket resulted in a very intensive process with critical design challenges. Control of the jacket weight to stay below the maximum lifting capacity of the crane vessel Thialf was the most critical one. Another special feature is the wellhead module, which will be partly integrated in the topsides after its installation in 2014. Early installation of the wellhead module will enable Statoil to drill numerous wells before platform completion.
Picture: Valemon jacket loaded on the seagoing barge leaving Vlissingen to its final offshore destination in Norway (source: https://hfg.heerema.com/tabid/2029/language/en-US/Default.aspx[Heerema Fabrication])
Source: https://hfg.heerema.com/tabid/2029/language/en-US/Default.aspx[Heerema Fabrication]
