Background
Advanced Energy Systems (ADES) was responsible for installing a pile-supported minimum facilities platform and drilling wells in the Gulf of Suez, offshore Egypt in 65m water depth. ADES proposed installing the 3-part platform weighing 220 metric tonnes using the same drilling rig planned to carry out the drilling operations, to eliminate the need for additional vessels and significantly reduce installation costs for the operator.
With considerable experience in minimum facilities platforms, 2H Offshore was contracted to carry out installation engineering activities as well as supervise the first offshore installation.
Installation Engineering
The platform design was finalised before full consideration was given for installation, so the project was a challenge from the outset. Our engineering team started by reviewing all the design documents and preparing a preliminary project plan which included several engineering tasks and an initial installation plan. This allowed us to highlight areas of risk and potential mitigations. We also met with the drilling rig team and visited the rig early in the project to ensure both the engineering team and the offshore team were aligned. The preliminary plan was discussed with the offshore team and the suggested mitigations were refined until the offshore drilling crew approved of the installation operation.
Once the plan was agreed, the 2H team was able to carry out the engineering tasks, which included designing and sourcing a lifting hook, structure lifting analyses, rigging specifications, vessel stability analyses, Texas deck design and a detailed installation procedure. Careful consideration was required at every step as a result of tight tolerances due to the large footprint of the structures, the water depth, the challenging clamping arrangement and the limitation on the diver bottom time.
