Infield flowlines scope completed for Ichthys LNG project

Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) has announced that it has completed the infield flowlines scope for the INPEX Ichthys LNG project. This follows the success of its deepwater construction vessel (DCV), Aegir, in laying down the final 18 in. production flowline to the seafloor. Aegir was able to utilise its heavy lift, J-lay and Reel-lay capabilities in the operation.

53 km of 6 in. and 8 in. carbon steel MEG and 12 in. corrosion resistant alloy (CRA) clad condensation flowlines were installed using Aegir using the reeling method.

• Inline installation of 14 flowline end terminations (FLETs) and three inline tees (ILTs).
• Onshore prefabrication and spooling onto heavy lift reels at HMC’s spooling base, which is located in Batam, Indonesia.
• Offshore loading of full reels, with a weight of up to 3185 mt, using Aegir’s 4000 t heavy lift crane.

87 km of 18 in. CRA production flowlines were installed using Aegir's J-lay method.

• Inline installation of 12 FLETs weighing up to 217 mT, and six ILTs, which weighed up to 197 mT.
• Onshore prefabrication of approximately 1750 numbers of 18 in. CRA 48.8 nominal length ‘quad joints’.

All told, HMC’s specialist welding technology subsidiary – Pipeline Technique Ltd (PTL) – executed and supervised a total of 11 000 onshore and offshore highest specification welds.

Jan Pieter Klaver, the CEO of HMC, said: “The complete Ichthys project is of an unprecedented scale in HMC’s subsea track record. It involves marshalling, transporting and lowering almost 120 000 t of project materials to the seabed in water depths up to 275 m in a remote area of the Indian Ocean unprotected against swells and cyclonic summer conditions. Most importantly, we have spent almost 5 million project man hours to perform the work without any Lost Time Injury or harm to the environment. HMC now looks forward to seeing Aegir completing the remaining heavy lift and mooring chain installation work on Ichthys in a similar safe and successful manner.”

Edited from press release by David Rowlands

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/24022016/infield-flowlines-scope-completed-for-ichthys-lng-project-2044/