JOHN GIBSON PROJECTS

SAKHALIN II - LOADOUT & FLOATOVER

38,000 Cu.M / Hr Barge Ballast System.
The 21,800t floatover topsides deck for the Lunskoye-A gas production platform was
successfully installed in the Sea of Okhotsk, 15km northeast of Sakhalin Island on 23
June setting a new record as the industry's heaviest floatover deck installation.
Project Particulars
Loadout Client: Samsung Heavy Industries
Loadout Location: Koje, Korea
Loadout Date: 22nd May 2006
Floatover Client: Saipem S.A
Floatover Location: Offshore Sakhalin Island, Russia
Floatover Date: 23rd June 2006

Equipment Used:
16 x 24PS Ballast Pumps, 15 x 325HP Hydraulic Powerpacks
(Loadout) 14 x 10PS DeBallast Pumps, (Floatover)14 x 10PS DeBallast Pumps
Full PLC Control and PC Monitoring of Ballast & Barge.

Weight of Topside: 21,800 Tonnes

JGP 36
John Gibson Projects, Sotherby Road, Middlesbrough, TS3 8BS, UK
Tel: + 44 1642 292299 Fax: + 44 1642 242004

www.johngibsonprojects.com
 JOHN GIBSON PROJECTS
Preparation & Engineering

John Gibson Projects were contracted by Samsung Heavy Industries

and Saipem to engineer, design and perform the Barge Ballasting for
both the Loadout and Offshore Floatover installation of the Sakhalin
Phase II LUN-A Platform, which is Russia's first offshore gas platform
installed in the Lunskoye Field.

For the loadout ballasting JGP were contracted to perform the

engineering, supervision and operation of a high capacity external
ballast system for the loadout ballasting of an enormous barge
designed and built for the project by the Samsung Heavy Industry
in China. The barge is one of the biggest in the world – 190m
long, 45m increasing to 90m at its widest part.

‘Crossover’ pipelines
were included in the
designed system and
allowed for contingency
and transfer of water
from one ‘branch’ to
another

JGP used computer modelling to

analyse and design a
pumping system capable of
delivering the high flow rates
requested by the client.
The systems were based around
JGP’s stock of standard 250mm,
400mm and 600mm bore light-
weight galvanised pipe lengths and
elements.

Additional main ‘Branch's’ were

designed and fabricated using
700mm bore galvanised pipework
to allow for the high flow (circa
10,000 Cu.M/Hr) per main branch.

JGP 36
John Gibson Projects, Sotherby Road, Middlesbrough, TS3 8BS, UK
Tel: + 44 1642 292299 Fax: + 44 1642 242004

www.johngibsonprojects.com
 JOHN GIBSON PROJECTS
Installation & Loadout
JGP’s supervision team work alongside Samsung’s personnel in the preparation and installation of the
Pipework and equipment, firstly onshore, then transferring to the barge.

In total over 1,168 individual pieces of pipework was installed to the drawings and plans issued for
the External Barge Ballast System.

Outfitted control rooms and workshop facilities were

mobilised with the equipment to the Barge. Providing
JGP Provided all of the Ballast facilities for JGP to project manage the installation,
Engineering, Calculations and commissioning and function testing of all equipment prior to
loadout Procedures as part of the operation.
LUN-A Loadout Scope of Work
Engineering continued on site
providing a Loadout Superintendent
responsible for the 28,100 Te Topside
transfer from the quay edge to the fi-
nal position on the barge

JGP’s Supervision and operation of the

Barge Ballast and Ballast Monitoring
System continued through the night
working throughout the 24 Hour
loadout duration to suit the transfer
speed..
The PC based ballast monitoring system
provides real time feed back from JGP’s
depth transducers fitted to each tank of the
barge, with additional transducers fitted
overboard to measure the attitude and
inclination of the barge throughout the
operation.
The system can be pre-programmed with the
necessary steps of loadout versus tide and
load transfer - targeting each stage of the
loadout

A log is kept of the individual

tank ballast and overall barge
condition, and available as a
print out during or after the
operation.
JGP 36
John Gibson Projects, Sotherby Road, Middlesbrough, TS3 8BS, UK
Tel: + 44 1642 292299 Fax: + 44 1642 242004

www.johngibsonprojects.com
 JOHN GIBSON PROJECTS
Offshore Installation

The LUN-A Topside is a fully integrated deck that incorporates all necessary drilling and production equipment,
hydrocarbon liquids separation facilities and living quarters for personnel, which will enable full development of the
Lunskoye field.
The platform's production capacity will be over 50 million
cubic meters of gas per day , approximately 50,000 barrels
of condensate per day and will supply the majority of the
gas for Russia's first LNG plant that is being built in the
south of Sakhalin Island, Russia.

Saipem (a world leader in Deepsea and EPIC projects) were

awarded as a maritime contractor to handle the marine scope of
work for the installation of two of the worlds largest offshore
LNG Platforms – LUN-A and PA-B
(the latter to be installed in 2007)
Saipem approached and contracted JGP to perform the Floatover
Installation ballasting during the LUN-A installation and have
since awarded the PA-B Floatover Installation to JGP.
Currently JGP own one of the largest fleet of Ballast pumps in
the world – with a total pumping capacity of over 160,000
Cu.M/Hr.
JGP’s scope of work was to provide the "Rapid
Ballast" or pumping of water added to the barge at
the critical stage of "Floatover Installation" or
placing of the LUN-A Topside on the concrete
GBS (Base) already placed offshore.
JGP also performed the offshore engineering
associated with the mating - from Ballast and
Mooring Calculation, to Procedures and on-site
floatover installation supervision.

The purpose built 190 meters long by 95 meters wide T-shape

barge was used to transport the LUN-A Topsides over a
distance of 1,500 nm to the offshore installation site, taking
11 days for the voyage.

The barge finally moored and docked between the legs of the
installed GBS with only 50mm of clearance on each side.

JGP 36
John Gibson Projects, Sotherby Road, Middlesbrough, TS3 8BS, UK
Tel: + 44 1642 292299 Fax: + 44 1642 242004

www.johngibsonprojects.com
 JOHN GIBSON PROJECTS

JGP’s installed spread of pumping equipment could nominally pump at 38,000 Cu.M / Hour and we were
able to add to that for short durations of time a further 10,000 Cu.M / Hour.
To put into perspective the flow of water would fill an Olympic swimming pool in under 4 minutes.

JGP’s On Site operation team accessed the barge, and re-instated the ballast
pumping system on the barges arrival to the offshore installation site.
Following procedures, the pumps were lowered down the overboard riser pipes,
the individual tank transducer were placed in the corresponding draft tubes and
all hydraulic systems re-commissioned.
A full function test and completion certificate had the system operational within
48 hours.

Once the barge had

entered the slot between
the GBS legs and the
four main legs located,
the ballast pumping
system was activated in
JGP’s control room.

The complete pumping system and

actuation of over 145 different
Pumps, Valves, Engines and Motors
is controlled from a single desktop
PC with a PLC interface to the
various diesel hydraulic powerpacks
positioned on the deck of the barge.

With feedback via the Monitoring

system, JGP can operate the entire
system with the click of a mouse
button.

After 9 hours of Ballasting, the topside was finally

clear of the Loadout Frame the LUN-A topside was
sat on during the Loadout and voyage to the final
installation location.

The barge was then removed from under the topside and the operation complete,
after three years of engineering, preparation by John Gibson Projects

Given the total weight of the topside, this installation has broken the world record for installation operations of this type.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON JGP OR SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS PLEASE CONTACT:

enquiries@johngibsonprojects.com

JGP 36
John Gibson Projects, Sotherby Road, Middlesbrough, TS3 8BS, UK
Tel: + 44 1642 292299 Fax: + 44 1642 242004

www.johngibsonprojects.com