The heavy-lift vessel Pioneering Spirit operated by Allseas is contracted to carry out work such as decommissioning large platforms in the North Sea and installing large offshore wind power substations, under contracts that extend into the 2030s. To support this long-term programme, the company is upgrading the vessel to handle larger topsides in a single lift, according to Offshore Magazine.
Through modifications to its dedicated system for lifting topsides (TLS), the maximum topsides weight Pioneering Spirit can remove in one operation will rise to 60,000 tonnes. This represents a 25% increase in single-lift capacity compared with the vessel’s original rating and enables the removal of larger offshore platforms in one piece.
Offshore Magazine noted that the upgrade concept was first set out in 2019, when Allseas planned to adapt Pioneering Spirit for a one-piece removal of the Statfjord A platform topsides in the North Sea, a gravity-based structure with a topsides weight of 50,000 tonnes. Since that initial scope, the project has expanded to encompass a wide-ranging structural and mechanical enhancement of the vessel’s TLS.
On the structural side, the work focuses on strengthening key beams that carry the main lifting loads within the TLS. Mechanically, the existing levers are being replaced by lighter components that can withstand higher loads, while the way the topsides are prepared ahead of a lift remains unchanged, so established topsides preparation requirements are preserved.
Source: Offshore Magazine
