May 29 - UK headquartered ALE has successfully completed the jack-up of the Arkutun Dagi Topside at the shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, South Korea.
According to ALE, the 42,780-tonne topside is the heaviest load ever jacked. The 24 m tall unit is the first of its kind to be lifted using ALE's Mega Jack system.
The Mega Jack was configured in four sets of towers, with each tower made up of three singular towers. This gave an overall jacking capacity of 60,000 tonnes.
It took 11 hours to complete the 24 m lift, with wind speeds reaching as high as 50 m per second.
The second phase of the project was the installation of the skid frame (DSF) that the topside was lowered on to. The Mega Jack lowered the huge unit into position within a day.
The 42,780-tonne topside will then be loaded out onto the DSF - by means of a pulled load out using strand jacks - to a barge for onward transportation to its final destination.
ALE executed this project on behalf of energy exploration firm Exxon Neftegaz Limited. The piece will be will be deployed into the Arkutun Dagi oil field off the east coast of Russia. The first oil is scheduled for production in 2014.
Kees Kompier, executive director, ALE commented: "This pioneering project is a great achievement for ALE and the Mega Jack which was created by our research and development team and engineers. The load is nearly double the weight of the previous heaviest load which is a great accomplishment for the company and really shows the capabilities of the Mega Jack.
"The system itself opens up a whole range of options for our clients and is completely scalable, meaning we can create a system to fit the requirements of projects becoming more flexible in our capacity and solutions."
The Mega Jack is a completely computerised, stroke-controlled system. It establishes stability from its jacking foundation, which means that large bracing structures and welding works are not required. Working at height is completely eliminated due to the low level feed-in system for jacking beams.
