HMC completes scope for INPEX Ichthys LNG project

On 27 April 2016 HMC’s Deepwater Construction Vessel (DCV) Aegir pre-laid the last FPSO mooring line. This important milestone marks the successful completion of HMC’s scope for the INPEX Ichthys LNG Project.

During the extensive 18 months Ichthys offshore campaign, HMC was able to demonstrate the ground breaking capabilities of the new vessel DCV Aegir, namely heavy lift, J-lay, Reel-lay, pile driving and pre-lay of the moorings within one project.

HMC was the selected subcontractor by main contractor McDermott to perform the highly diverse transportation and installation work scope on the Ichthys project.
HMC’s scope included:

• Fifty-four kilometers of 6” and 8” carbon steel MEG and 12” Corrosion Resistant Alloy (CRA) clad Condensate Flowlines installed by DCV Aegir reeling method
• Onshore prefabrication and spooling of 6,8 and 12” flowlines onto heavy lift reels at an HMC designated spooling base in Batam, Indonesia
• Offshore loading of full reels with weights up to 3,185 mT using DCV Aegir’s 4,000 mT heavy lift crane
• Inline installation of 14 Flowline End Terminations (FLETs) and 3 Inline Tees (ILTs) during Reel-Lay
• Launch and crane assisted lowering of the 5,200 mT Riser Support Structure (RSS) subsea tower, followed by the subsea placement of the 1800mT Arch structure on top of the tower
• Eighty-five kilometers of 18” CRA production flowlines installed by DCV Aegir’s J-lay method
• Onshore prefabrication of approximately 1,750 numbers of 18” CRA 48.8 meters nominal length “quad joints”
• Inline installation of 12 FLETs weighing up to 217 mT and 6 ILTs, weighing up to 197 mT during J-Lay
• Offshore heavy lifting of 14 miscellaneous subsea structures with weights up to 1,500 mT
• Installation of 49 driven anchor piles of 500 mT weight and a 5.5 meter diameter x 63 meter long size
• Connection and pre-lay of 49 mooring lines with a combined length of 71.5 kilometers, consisting of approximately 1.1 km long 178 mm anchor chain segments amongst other lengths, and 250m long 175mm spiral strand wire segments

HMC’s Chief Executive Officer Jan Pieter Klaver states: “The successful completion of the INPEX Ichthys LNG project scope has demonstrated the highly versatile capabilities of DCV Aegir and her crew, resulting in an unparalleled execution with regards to safety. HMC worked almost 5 million man-hours onshore and offshore without any Lost Time Incidents or harm to the environment, which is a truly remarkable achievement by all people involved in the project, both onshore and offshore”.

Ichthys LNG Project
The lchthys LNG Project is a joint venture between Operator INPEX (62.25%, major partner Total (30%), CPC Corporation Taiwan and the Australian subsidiaries of Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric Power, Chubu Electric Power and Toho Gas.

Gas from the Ichthys Field, in the Browse Basin approximately 200 kilometers offshore Western Australia, will undergo preliminary processing offshore to remove water and extract condensate. The gas will then be exported to onshore processing facilities in Darwin via an 890-kilometer subsea pipeline. When operational, the Ichthys LNG Project is expected to produce 8.9 million tons of LNG and 1.6 million tons of LPG per annum, along with approximately 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak.

Heerema Marine Contractors
Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) is a world leading marine contractor in the international offshore oil and gas industry. HMC transports, installs, and removes all types of offshore facilities. These include fixed and floating structures, subsea pipelines and infrastructures in shallow waters, deep and ultra-deep waters. HMC operates semi-submersible crane vessels and deep water construction vessels. The company is a fully-owned subsidiary of the Heerema Group.

Partner
McDermott International (NYSE: MDR) was awarded the contract as main contractor for the umbilical, riser, flowline (URF) project by INPEX and awarded Heerema Marine Contractors the contract for the transportation and installation of infield flowlines, subsea structures and moorings for the INPEX Ichthys LNG Project.