Norwegian company Aibel, specializing in the construction of modules for offshore oil and gas platforms, last week saw the giant Main Support Frame (MSF) module for the Johan Sverdrup P2 platform in Norway leave its yard in Thailand, two years after the start of the construction.
The MSF is now on its way to Norway aboard the GPO Sapphire heavy lift and transportation vessel, currently sailing through the Malacca Strait, with the next stop being the Suez Canal.
The Johan Sverdrup Process Platform II, or just P2, is Aibel’s largest project to date, weighing approx. 23,000 tons and engaging up to 4,000 associates at its peak. Aibel was awarded the contract in April 2018, with responsibility for engineering, procurement, and construction.
Less than a year after the contract award, the first construction activities for the largest of three modules, the Main Support Frame (MSF), started at Aibel’s yard in Laem Chabang and at subcontractor Deeline in Rayong, Thailand.
Two years later, the completed module comprises four decks with a total weight of approx. 14,500 tons, and a perimeter equivalent to a spacious football pitch.
"This makes it the largest platform module ever built on Thai soil – beating the previous record held by the MSF for the Johan Sverdrup Drilling Platform, also built by Aibel Thailand," Aibel said.
In addition, Aibel said, during the construction, the project also set a new record for the heaviest lift performed at Aibel Thailand, and the load-out of the completed module was the largest land transport ever completed in Thailand, using 604 axle lines, which could even be a world record.
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