A new accommodation platform in the Viking gas field, operated by Conoco (U.K.) Ltd. in the southern North Sea, was commissioned Jan. 10. The new facility is equipped with the first freefall lifeboats to enter service in the U.K. offshore oil and gas industry, said Conoco.
The platform is linked to the other three Viking "B" platforms by a 65 m bridge. The other platforms are where drilling, production, and compression activities occur.
As well as accommodating up to 56 people on the new platform, it also contains a monitoring and control station, plant and switchgear rooms, fire pumps, and a loading bay.
The project cost 18 million and required 14 months from design to commissioning. It included building and installing a new jacket and deck and moving existing accommodation module and helideck from their previous location on the Viking BD to the new BA.
Building the new accommodation platform at Viking B was prompted by a major study of offshore facilities. Conoco decided that optimum safety meant separating the accommodation from the production facilities rather than simply installing subsea emergency shutdown valves.
Jacket, deck, and bridge were designed, fabricated, and installed by Heerema Havenbedrijf BV, The Netherlands. Relocation of the existing Viking B accommodation module and installation of the new facilities were carried out by the crane barge Hermod.
The 18 million contract was awarded in August 1990.
The 45-passenger freefall lifeboats were fabricated by Jorgensen Vik, Grimstad, Norway.
Copyright 1992 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
