Statoil's Aasta Hansteen spar platform topside has been loaded on to a heavy transport vessel and is set to sail for Norway in coming days.
The 24,000-tonne topside will take two months to travel from Hyundai Heavy Industries' yard in South Korea to Norway.
In July, the Aasta Hansteen spar hull was unloaded from Boskalis' Dockwise Vanguard heavy lift vessel and "righted" in a fjord in Norway.
Statoil’s Aasta Hansteen spar development will move Norwegian operations into a new deepwater environment. The spar will be moored in 1300m water depth in the Norwegian Sea – the deepest previous project is Shell’s Ormen Lange, at 900m.
Aasta Hansteen was discovered in 1997, some 300km offshore, far from existing infrastructure. The development will produce the Luva, Snefrid and Haklang gas and condensate reservoirs, jointly known as Aasta Hansteen.
The Aasta Hansteen facility will also be Norway’s first spar project (as well as being the world’s largest spar), the country’s first use of steel catenary risers (SCRs), the first synthetic rope mooring spread offshore Norway and the first use of mechanically lined pipe installed using reel-lay in the country.
Photo: Lee Hyeongjin/Statoil
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