Equinor marked the installation of the last pieces of the Johan Sverdrup field center with the heaviest lift ever performed offshore. Two final platform topsides, a bridge, and a flare stack were installed last week.
The two final platform topsides were installed using the heavy-lift vessel Allseas Pioneering Spirit’s single-lift technology. The processing platform lift—nearly 26,000 tonnes—set a new lifting record offshore, and was carried out on Tuesday morning in only 4 hours with a clearance of just 25 m from the rest of the field center. The lift of the utility and living quarters topside, 18,000 tonnes, was completed early Friday morning in just 3.5 hours. From the start of the lifting operation of the processing platform on Tuesday morning until the living quarters topsides had been lifted into place on Friday it took less than 72 hours.
During the same period, the final flare stack and the bridge that links the processing platform to the drilling platform were lifted into place by Heerema’s heavy-lift vessel Thialf. The final bridge that will connect the utility and living quarters topside to the rest of the field center will be installed in the next possible weather window.
The hookup, testing, and commissioning of the two final topsides will be followed by testing and ensuring that all four platforms—and the field center as a whole—function as a single unit. Completing the tieback of the eight predrilled production wells on the field to the drilling platform will also take place to prepare for startup in November.