Written by: Philip Mok
Due to the economic downturn and drop in oil prices, companies, in particular oil and energy companies, are under immense pressure to cut costs. With nearly 70 oil and gas projects totaling $380 billion deferred this year, modularization of projects has become an increasingly popular option, as direct project costs can be reduced up to 15%, and project delivery can be sped up up to 20%.
Marine heavy lift companies such as Boskalis (formerly Dockwise) and TPI Mega Line are in a prime position to provide transportation solutions for these projects, allowing for lift-on/lift-off (lo/lo), roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) and float-on/float-off (flo/flo) of offshore drilling rigs, tension-leg platforms, semisubmersibles, spars, FPSOs, cranes, barges, and of course, LNG, mining, power, and desalination plant modules, as well as military equipment and vessels.
One vessel in particular, the Dockwise Vanguard, the world’s largest semi-submersible heavy lift ship, has changed the industry, boasting a length of 275 meters (over 900 feet!), breadth of 70 meters (230 feet) and carrying capacity of 117,000 DWT (dead weight tonnes), making it possible for ever-larger modules weighing thousands of tonnes to be transported from their fabrication facilities (mostly in East Asia) directly to their project sites (ex. in Western Australia) in less voyages, decreasing the environmental footprint of projects, mitigating risk, and saving costs. Recently, plans to construct a 50% larger sister vessel were waived by Dockwise due to cost cuts across the industry.
For perspective, the Vanguard can carry the legendary Eiffel Tower laid on its side:
For her maiden voyage, the Vanguard transported Chevron’s Jack St. Malo oil platform from Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea to the Gulf of Mexico.
The Vanguard was even selected to remove the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship from the coast of Italy, but the deal fell through, and the Concordia was instead refloated and towed to Genoa.
In addition, large, semi-submersible deck barges such as the Vanguard allow for offshore dry-docking of vessels for maintenance and repair, including FPSOs. Here is TPI Mega Line’s MV Mega Passion, Asia’s largest semi-submersible heavy lift carrier, carrying Rethymnis and Kulukundis’ MV Astra Centaurus:
There are endless possible applications for these colossal ships. For example,drilling rigs can be safely loaded and redeployed elsewhere. Militaries could probably use them as makeshift aircraft carriers in a pinch. Had a semisubmersible deck barge such as the Mega Passion or Vanguard been utilized to lift the capsized South Korean ferry MV Sewol, perhaps some more of the passengers could have been saved.