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NUMMER 09 I 7 DECEMBER
Pioneering Spirit almost ready for next project
Next summer, the Pioneering Spirit will embark upon its second real project: the dismantling of the Shell oil platform Brent Delta. In the meantime, this largest workship in the world is being completely overhauled. Off shore News was given a tour by captain Loek Fernengel (51).
MIRJAM STREEFKERK
The large wooden helm on the bridge only has a decorative function. When the ship returns from the Alexiahaven in Rotterdam to its test facilities, some fiſt y kilometres off the coast near Den Helder, the huge attribute will be stored away. What remains is a very small joystick, with which the captain is able to control the ship, with a length of 382 metres and a width of 124 metres, to within 10 centimetres. This is thanks to the highly advanced Dynamic Positioning System.
On a grey, wet November Wednesday, I found myself on the bridge of the Pioneering Spirit, the largest workship in the world. Loek Fernengel (51), who has, since early this year, been the captain of this new showpiece owned by Allseas, showed me around. His eyes shone as he started telling me about next Saturday, when he would be able to steer his ship into the direction of the briny deep. “This is what I’m living for”, he said. “Sailing this ship is like playing in the Champions League”.
A class of its own Since its arrival in the port of Rotterdam, the Pioneering Spirit has been drawing a lot of attention. And no wonder! It is the largest workship in the world and occupies a class of its own. Even Lloyds Register uses a separate classification. The ship was manufactured to perform high-precision work at sea. For example, it can install or remove entire drilling platforms, up to 48,000 tons, all by itself. In addition, it lays pipes, the discipline Allseas owes its success to.
Last August, the ship concluded its first assignment. Aſt er a test liſt at the testing facility fiſt y kilometres off the coast near Den Helder, the Pioneering Spirit leſt for Norwegian waters, where Repsol’s mobile off shore production unit, Yme, a platform weighing 13,500 tons, was located, riveted to the sea bottom on three steel legs.
Green button On the bridge near the ballast control room, Fernengel explained how the platform was liſt ed. He pointed to a screen showing a graphic reproduction of the 84 ballast tanks of the ship, which have a joined capacity of more than 700,000 tons of water. By partly filling these ballast tanks, the ship was lowered to fold itself around the platform. Subsequently, the tanks were emptied and the stamps were pressed against the platform by the twelve liſt ing arms the vessel was equipped with at the time. The platform’s legs were cut through by means of cutting machines that had been installed on the inside beforehand. Aſt er this, the actual liſt could take place.
Among the dozens of white buttons under- neath the many displays in the control centre are a green button with the text ‘fast liſt ’ and a blue button with the text ‘quick lower’. “Edward Heerema was asked to press the green button”, the captain told. As witnessed by employees, the liſt was successful. “Everyone cheered”, Fernengel smiled.
13 knots Aſt er this, the vessel reversed from the remaining piles and the platform was seafastened. Subsequently, the platform was taken to a dismantling yard north of Bergen, Norway, to be disassembled further. “We had thought we could reach a speed of 8 knots with the platform on board”, Fernen- gel said. “But I wanted to try and go faster, because the sea was very calm. It turned out we could sail at a speed of 13 knots for quite a while”. He smiled: “Edward even came up to check how fast we were going”.
A little later, on the helicopter platform, Fernengel pointed to the foredeck. “That first night, on my last round, I went there to pinch myself. I wasn’t dreaming: there it was, the platform, suspended in-between the bows. It was an impressive sight. ‘We really did it, I said to myself.’” Later, I heard that Edward Heerema had also been looking at the platform during the night.
For the Allseas founder, it was like a dream come true. Back in 1987, Heerema put his first ideas for the vessel down on paper. It wasn’t until 25 years later that the construction of the vessel – at the time called the Pieter Schelte, aſt er Edward Heerema’s father – in Korea. Aſt er a lot of fuss had been kicked up about the fact that Pieter Schelte Heerema
had been a member of the Waff en SS, the vessel’s name was changed to Pioneering Spirit.
A small village Aſt er its Norwegian adventure, the Pioneering Spirit returned to its home harbour, the Prinses Alexiahaven, where we disembarked. The workship is like a small village. At any time, there are hundreds of workers on board. Like Fernengel, they work according to a five weeks on, five weeks off schedule. In addition, there are dozens of individual contractors and numerous visitors. From FutureLand, the visitors’ centre on the Maasvlakte, the small boats Knabbel and Babbel are sailing to the Pioneering Spirit and back again, to bring visitors and workers to and fro.
On board, there is a lot of activity going on, both inside and out. Over the past few months, the installation of the final four supporting arms on the ship’s bows has been nearing the end. Engineers, particularly electrical ones, are presently providing the finishing touches. Underneath one of the arms is a gigantic pile of ballast, which will shortly be used for a test. Another liſt ing arm is being welded.
The extra liſt ing arms are needed for the second order to be carried out by the Pioneering Spirit next summer. Shell called in Allseas to help them dismantle the Brent platforms north-east of the Shetland islands. The Brent Delta, weighing 23,500 tons, will be the first one to be liſt ed off its base.
Fitness room Next weekend, the new liſt ing arms will be tested at the testing facility on the North Sea. Like the last order, trainings take place in the Allseas simulator in Delſt . “Each order is characterised by its own procedures, which are written out in great detail. For some checks, my signature is required to make sure all steps in the procedure have been followed”, Fernengel said. He is rarely at the helm, so to speak. “My main task is to make sure everyone can do their job”.
Despite the fact that the vessel is presently moored, Fernengel’s working days are well-filled. He is busy e-mailing, carrying out checks outside, and attending meetings regarding various procedures as well as meetings with personnel, such as welders and technical engineers. When he showed me
the fitness room, he admitted: “I should be here more oſt en, but aſt er a 12-hour working day, I am usually dead beat”.
Gigantic stinger The aſt of the vessel contains a gigantic stinger on a separate pontoon. When pipes need to be laid, this stinger is attached in-between the two bows of the vessel, in order to guide the pipe to the bottom of the sea at the right angle.
The pipe-laying facility is currently being tested intensively, Fernengel showed. A special factory welds two pipe parts with a length of 12 metres together. This facilitates the laying process, which is carried out one deck below. Here, the 24-metre pipe parts are welded onto the pipeline and taken to their destination via the stinger.
The company does not expect the invest- ment, 2.6 billion Euros, to be recovered any time soon. “Our price of the day may be higher, but both dismantling and pipe-laying with our ship take up a lot less time than usual”, Jeroen Hagelstein, PR off icer with Allseas, who also attended the tour, explained.
There are no pipe-laying contracts for the Pioneering Spirit yet, but he is confident that the ship will be able to take on this type of work soon. “Next year, there will be a major pipe-laying project in the Gulf of Mexico – hopefully the Pioneering Spirit will be called in”. And although the prestigious South- Stream project has been put on hold, there is still a contract with the Russians. Hagelstein: “If politics can come up with an alternative, we are ready for it”. In 2018 and 2019, aſt er the Brent Delta platform has been removed, the Pioneering Spirit will install the three platforms for the Norwegian Johan Sverdrup field for Statoil.
Honour A few months ago, Fernengel was called by the HR department and was informed of their intention to have him transferred. His first reaction was one of disappointment. “At the time, I was captain on the Solitaire and was really enjoying my job. But when I heard they wanted to make me captain of this ship, my heart skipped a beat. I am not a person to indulge in career planning, so I had not expected this. But now that I am in this position, working with new technologies and innovations, I am very honoured indeed”.
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