About 370 kilometers of Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline already laid - project operator
The Pioneering Spirit pipe-lay vessel has joined the Nord Stream-2 flotilla in Finland’s exclusive economic zone
Vessel Pioneering Spirit
MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. The implementation of the Nord Stream-2 project proceeds as scheduled, with about 370 kilometers of the pipeline have already been laid, Nord Stream 2 AG, the pipeline construction’s operator, said on Sunday.While LNG World News had:
"By now, about 370 kilometers have already been laid," the company said in a press release.
The Pioneering Spirit pipe-lay vessel has joined the Nord Stream-2 flotilla in Finland’s exclusive economic zone. It will supersede the Solitaire vessel which has been working in Finland since September. Now, the Solitaire will head to the southern part if Sweden’s exclusive economic zone to lay a 510-kilometer section of the pipeline.
Both ships, the Pioneering Spirit, measuring 382 by 124 meters, with a multinational crew of 570, and the Solitaire, 300 by 41 meters, with a crew of 420, are operated by Allseas co.
According to earlier reports, Nord Stream-2 has obtained all the necessary permissions from four out of five countries. Works are conducted in Sweden, Finland, Germany and Russia. Construction proceeds in Russia’s and Germany’s coastal sections. The Audacia pipe lay vessels finished works in Germany’s waters yesterday....MORE
Polskie LNG floats terminal expansion tender
Polish LNG terminal operator, Polskie LNG, started the tender procedure for the expansion of the President Lech Kaczyński facility in Świnoujście.So, if Norway can get their new field supplying Britain and/or Europe as the Americans work out the logistics to supply Ireland, Wales and the west of England on a greater than one-off basis, everyone should be snug and warm.
The company is seeking to select a contractor for three key projects within the first Polish LNG import facility, which includes construction of the third LNG storage tank, delivery of additional process installations increasing the regasification capacity to 7.5 billion cubic meters per year, and the LNG transshipment installation together with a railway siding.
The tender process includes the bidders’ prequalification stage, negotiations with short-listed bidders and signing the contract with the selected contractor by the end of 2019, the operator said in a statement.
Reaching the target capacity of 7.5 bcm/year is planned for 2021, while the other two projects are scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2023....MORE
We last visited Pioneering Spirit in February's "Big Boats: "Switzerland's Allseas plans world's largest construction vessel"" about the vessel planned as the next size up from Pioneering Spirit:
These ships are basically two oil tankers strapped together...An earlier post, May 2017, had Pioneering Spirit showing off with a world-record lift:
Shipping: Guy Says $3 Billion Boat "One Of The Bigger Bets Of His Career"
From gCaptain, April 28:
Pioneering Spirit Sets World Lifting Record
The giant offshore installation and commissioning vessel Pioneering Spirit has set the new world lifting record with the successful removal of Shell’s 24,000 tonne Brent Delta platform in the North Sea in a single lift.
Lifting of the Delta topsides. Credit: Allseas
Pioneering Spirit’s owner Allseas confirmed the safe and successful completion of the topsides removal operation on April 28.
Located in the Brent field approximately 115 miles off the northeast coast of Shetland, the Brent Delta topsides sat on a three-legged, gravity-based structure in 140 meters of water.
The topsides is now sea-fastened on board Pioneering Spirit for transport to the Able UK decommissioning yard in Teesside, northeast England for recycling and disposal.
The Pioneering Spirit entered service in 2016 and, by design, has set a number of records. At 382 meters long and 124 meters wide, the purpose-built vessel is the largest offshore construction ship ever built. The bow features a large slot and lifting beams that allow the vessel to straddle a platform and remove entire topsides weighing up to 48,000 tonnes in a single lift. This single lift method is considered a major departure from traditional decommissioning, where topsides are usually taken apart piece by piece....MORE
...The Pioneering Spirit, which has been rumored to cost about $3 billion, was built in South Korea by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and arrived in Rotterdam for final outfitting in January 2015. The vessel had been under construction since at least 2010, but its concept dates back nearly three decades and is based on two large tankers placed side-by-side. Allseas founder and CEO, Edward Hereema, who first came up with idea, has called the vessel one of the biggest bets of his career....
