ALE has loaded out an 18,000-tonne topside at a yard in Zhuhai, China.
The topside will form part of an offshore platform in the Dongfang gas fields, located in the South China Sea.
In order to load out the topside on to a heavy lift barge, ALE installed hydraulic skidding equipment under the topside. Skid tracks and skid shoes were positioned on a foundation of concrete blocks, before four 850-tonne capacity strand jacks were installed.
A fully-integrated ballasting system was used during the load out, which was monitored by a computerised system designed by ALE. According to ALE, this provided real-time automated level monitoring for the barge ballasting.
