Post by Retrovision on Jan 24, 2007 6:13:33 GMT -8
This story is from the 19th of this month, and I was tipped-off by spectacular pictures on CBC News of the towering stabalizing pylon-structures as this vessel is now loading the oil-rig in Halifax's Bedford Basin.
(From: thechronicleherald.ca/Business/553630.html)
Blue Marlin parked in Halifax
Huge heavy-lift vessel waiting for weather to improve so it can head out to North Sea
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
At the end of every windy day, the owners of the Rowan Gorilla VI look out the window at Halifax Harbour and see hundreds of thousands of dollars blow out to sea.
Sitting idle in Halifax Harbour are two offshore jack-up rigs: the Rowan Gorilla VI and GlobalSantaFe’s Galaxy II. Both are headed to the North Sea but have been delayed for weeks because of bad weather and high winds in Nova Scotia.
Heavy-lift vessel, the Blue Marlin,
sits in Halifax Harbour on
Thursday waiting for the weather
to change in order to transport
jack-up rigs to the North Sea.
(Ted Pritchard / Staff)
"It’s starting to cost us money. We really need to get them out of here because we are losing money every day," Linden Terry of Rowan Cos. said from the Dartmouth office on Thursday.
One of the world’s largest heavy-lift vessels, the Blue Marlin, owned by Dockwise, a division of the Heerema Group of the Netherlands, sits waiting nearby in the Bedford Basin to move the offshore rigs to their next job.
The huge vessel requires good, calm weather to load the two semi-submersible rigs onto its platform for lifting. The combined cargo will weigh 54,000 tonnes.
This vessel was in the news several years ago, when the U.S. navy hired the Blue Marlin to move the destroyer USS Cole back to the U.S. after the warship was crippled in Yemen by suicide bombers.
In the oil and gas industry, having heavy equipment sitting idle costs money.
The bill is adding up to keep one of the world’s largest heavy-lift vessels on standby since early January. The standby rate for the Blue Marlin is estimated to be $30,000 US per day, plus fuel, and when it is transporting cargo its day rate increases to $50,000 to $60,000 US, plus fuel.
For the Blue Marlin to lift the two huge rigs requires winds less than 22 kilometres per hour and a "good 48-hour weather forecast," Gerry Sarlis, manager of operations for Dockwise, said Thursday in a telephone interview from Houston.
He stressed that safety is a priority.
The jack-up rigs have been sitting in Halifax Harbour since early December and the day rate if they are working is about $180,000 to $200,000 US, according to industry sources.
Mr. Linden said it is possible the Blue Marlin will lift the two rigs on Tuesday, but that "window is narrowing" with a poor long-range weather forecast.
The Rowan Gorilla VI has been in Halifax Harbour for a post-tow inspection since it completed work off Newfoundland and Labrador for Husky Oil of Calgary. The Galaxy II rig has been working off Nova Scotia for the past seven years at the Sable gas project.
The Blue Marlin arrived in the first week of January after another ship in Dockwise’s fleet, Black Marlin, was unexpectedly redirected to the Gulf of Mexico shortly before Christmas. It had spent 10 days in Halifax Harbour waiting for good weather.
The ship headed to the Gulf of Mexico after another vessel in the company’s fleet sank off Angola. The Mighty Servant 3 developed a list and sank after offloading a drilling platform. The vessel is sitting at the bottom of the ocean in 62 metres of water. There were no injuries and the cause of the accident is being investigated, according to a news release from the company.
(jmyrden@herald.ca)
© 2007 The Halifax Herald Limited
© AP Photo
Blue Marlin
The Blue Marlin is 738 feet long. Its deck is a massive 207 feet by 585 feet, and its dead weight comes out to 76,061 tons. Pictured, it appears afloat on the sea, rather than in its semi-submersion condition. The Blue Marlin, being a semi-submersible, is able to take on a huge oversized load. The ballast system not only lifts the ship but also the load on the ship.
(From: thechronicleherald.ca/Business/553630.html)
Blue Marlin parked in Halifax
Huge heavy-lift vessel waiting for weather to improve so it can head out to North Sea
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
At the end of every windy day, the owners of the Rowan Gorilla VI look out the window at Halifax Harbour and see hundreds of thousands of dollars blow out to sea.
Sitting idle in Halifax Harbour are two offshore jack-up rigs: the Rowan Gorilla VI and GlobalSantaFe’s Galaxy II. Both are headed to the North Sea but have been delayed for weeks because of bad weather and high winds in Nova Scotia.
Heavy-lift vessel, the Blue Marlin,
sits in Halifax Harbour on
Thursday waiting for the weather
to change in order to transport
jack-up rigs to the North Sea.
(Ted Pritchard / Staff)
"It’s starting to cost us money. We really need to get them out of here because we are losing money every day," Linden Terry of Rowan Cos. said from the Dartmouth office on Thursday.
One of the world’s largest heavy-lift vessels, the Blue Marlin, owned by Dockwise, a division of the Heerema Group of the Netherlands, sits waiting nearby in the Bedford Basin to move the offshore rigs to their next job.
The huge vessel requires good, calm weather to load the two semi-submersible rigs onto its platform for lifting. The combined cargo will weigh 54,000 tonnes.
This vessel was in the news several years ago, when the U.S. navy hired the Blue Marlin to move the destroyer USS Cole back to the U.S. after the warship was crippled in Yemen by suicide bombers.
In the oil and gas industry, having heavy equipment sitting idle costs money.
The bill is adding up to keep one of the world’s largest heavy-lift vessels on standby since early January. The standby rate for the Blue Marlin is estimated to be $30,000 US per day, plus fuel, and when it is transporting cargo its day rate increases to $50,000 to $60,000 US, plus fuel.
For the Blue Marlin to lift the two huge rigs requires winds less than 22 kilometres per hour and a "good 48-hour weather forecast," Gerry Sarlis, manager of operations for Dockwise, said Thursday in a telephone interview from Houston.
He stressed that safety is a priority.
The jack-up rigs have been sitting in Halifax Harbour since early December and the day rate if they are working is about $180,000 to $200,000 US, according to industry sources.
Mr. Linden said it is possible the Blue Marlin will lift the two rigs on Tuesday, but that "window is narrowing" with a poor long-range weather forecast.
The Rowan Gorilla VI has been in Halifax Harbour for a post-tow inspection since it completed work off Newfoundland and Labrador for Husky Oil of Calgary. The Galaxy II rig has been working off Nova Scotia for the past seven years at the Sable gas project.
The Blue Marlin arrived in the first week of January after another ship in Dockwise’s fleet, Black Marlin, was unexpectedly redirected to the Gulf of Mexico shortly before Christmas. It had spent 10 days in Halifax Harbour waiting for good weather.
The ship headed to the Gulf of Mexico after another vessel in the company’s fleet sank off Angola. The Mighty Servant 3 developed a list and sank after offloading a drilling platform. The vessel is sitting at the bottom of the ocean in 62 metres of water. There were no injuries and the cause of the accident is being investigated, according to a news release from the company.
(jmyrden@herald.ca)
© 2007 The Halifax Herald Limited
© AP Photo
Blue Marlin
The Blue Marlin is 738 feet long. Its deck is a massive 207 feet by 585 feet, and its dead weight comes out to 76,061 tons. Pictured, it appears afloat on the sea, rather than in its semi-submersion condition. The Blue Marlin, being a semi-submersible, is able to take on a huge oversized load. The ballast system not only lifts the ship but also the load on the ship.
