New J-lay vessel targets offshore Angola, Brazil

New J-lay vessel for work offshore Angola [32,660 bytes] A NEW DEEPWATER J-LAY VESSEL WILL BE BUILT over the next 21/2 years for installing pipelines offshore Angola. Saibos CML, a 50/50 joint venture (JV) of Bouygues Offshore (Montigny le Bretonneux, France) and Saipem, Milan, has received bids for the vessel from six shipyards for what it is calling its "field development ship" (FDS). Saibos says final costs will not exceed $150 million and will be shared equally by the JV partners. The

Nov. 2, 1998

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New J-lay vessel for work offshore Angola [32,660 bytes]

A NEW DEEPWATER J-LAY VESSEL WILL BE BUILT over the next 21/2 years for installing pipelines offshore Angola.

Saibos CML, a 50/50 joint venture (JV) of Bouygues Offshore (Montigny le Bretonneux, France) and Saipem, Milan, has received bids for the vessel from six shipyards for what it is calling its "field development ship" (FDS).

Saibos says final costs will not exceed $150 million and will be shared equally by the JV partners.

The partners expect to place an order by the end of October 1998 with the FDS completed by mid-2000.

Girassol project

Based on an original design, Bouygues says the FDS will be used for the second phase of the development of Elf Exploration Angola's deepwater Girassol field. In July 1998, Elf awarded a $410-million umbilicals and flow lines project to GIE Altomar Girassol, an equal JV of Bouygues Offshore, ETPM, and Stolt Comex Seaway.

The FDS will be a dynamically positioned, monohull and multipurpose crane and lay work ship (Fig. 1). It will have a cruising speed of 14 knots, lifting capacity of 600 tons, and a J-lay tower capable of installing 20-in. pipe to 6,000 ft.

The vessel will be 156-m long, 30 m in breadth.

Bouygues says the hull and J-lay tower will be able easily to install flexible lines and umbilicals, when needed.

Bouygues Offshore has also announced that, in another 50/50 JV with ETPM, it was awarded the first turnkey contract for supply of the floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) barge and offloading buoy required for development of the Girassol field; Bouygues' portion is worth $350 million.