Deepwater pipelay on the 889km-long gas export pipeline (GEP) for INPEX' Ichthys LNG Project has started offshore Australia.
Saipem’s deepwater installation vessel Castorone will lay the remaining 718km offshore section of the 42in. diameter GEP following the successful completion in November 2014 of the 164km shallow water section by the SEMAC-1.
The remaining 7km of the GEP is onshore, incorporating the beach valve and the final section to the onshore LNG facilities site at Bladin Point near Darwin.
Deepwater pipelay is scheduled for completion in late 2015. When completed, the Ichthys LNG Project GEP will be the fifth longest subsea pipeline in the world and the longest in the southern hemisphere.
Ichthys LNG Project Offshore Director Claude Cahuzac says: “Castorone starting work means we are now a major step closer to physically connecting our onshore LNG facilities to the Ichthys Field, where our offshore facilities will be moored for the 40-plus year life of the Project.
“A significant amount of work has been safely completed to get to this stage of pipeline installation. This includes a range of activities in and around Darwin Harbour such as dredging, landfall civil works, rock quarrying and transportation, and marine cable crossings.”