A Major Weldox Order for Deep-Sea Drilling Project

摘要

This is one of the biggest Weldox orders so far received for the offshore industry. The total weight of the 130-metre high tower is 4,500 tonnes, of which 2,000 tonnes consist of Weldox 500 and 700. Also included in the order are 600 tonnes of Weldox 700 for the ring crane incorporated into the system. The structure has recently left the workshops in Schiedam outside Rotterdam and has now been erected on the Saipem 7000 offshore vessel, which will take on its first assignment in October for deep-sea drilling in the Black Sea. The total cost of the Saipem 7000 project is around DM 60 million (about SEK 270 million). After building its first 'S-lay' ship in the late 1970s, Saipem soon became the first contractor to lay a series of pipelines at depths of more than 300 metres. 50-cm diameter pipes were laid across the Messina Sound and the Sicilian Channel at a maximum depth of 608 metres. Since then, the company has undertaken pipe-laying work at ever-increasing depths, and growing challenges await in the future.