DP barge upgraded

Vessel & ROV News - April 21, 2000

J Ray McDermott has taken delivery of an upgraded dynamically positioned offshore derrick barge with a $12 million package of improvements that will provide the vessel with greater flexibility in deepwater operations."Derrick Barge 16 will be capable of a multitude of offshore installation options, especially in the exciting deepwater market fields, where much of today's exploration and drilling activity is occurring," said the company."This investment has resulted in unique physical improvements to the barge, which will increase the overall capabilities of our fleet of work vessels."

The DB 16's dynamically positioning system has been upgraded to a DPS-2 rating, a rating that indicates a significantly more sophisticated system that allows for redundancy. The four 2,000hp fully azimuthing thrusters provide the 400-foot by 100-foot work platform enhanced station keeping abilities.

With this upgrade, the DB 16 and the company's DB 50 both possess DPS-2 systems.

For pipeline and subsea projects, the newly refurbished DB 16 will be able to perform umbilical installation and change modes to install flexible flowlines in a short time period.

The 860/600 short ton revolving crane allows for the change-out of equipment at sea and will be equipped with underwater block capabilities for manifold and template installation. The transformation required to install mooring systems can also be done quickly with the highly portable equipment systems on board.

The newly upgraded dynamically positioning system enhances the DB 16's ability to install coiled tubing and reeled pipe. In addition, the dynamic positioning capability will minimise the set-up time when performing traditional derrick barge work.

The DB 16 was upgraded at the Talleres Navales del Golfo, SA del CV (TNG) shipyard, a subsidiary of J Ray McDermott, SA. The TNG yard is located on the Gulf of Mexico at Veracruz, Mexico's largest and busiest port. TNG provides full ship-repair servicesas well as fabricates offshore platforms, modules, and components.