October 31 - Freight Wings has completed the load-out of offshore structures destined for the ONGC Bassein development project, on behalf of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), at the latter's facilities in Hazira and Kattupalli, India.
Freight Wings loaded out a total of 13 structures, including decks, topsides and bridges, with weights ranging from 2,560 tonnes to 6,500 tonnes.
According to Freight Wings, the eight-legged, 6,500-tonne BCPA 3 jacket is India's heaviest structure to be loaded out in a single piece, while the 5,250-tonne BLQ3 deck is the largest and heaviest unit constructed at L&T's Hazira yard to date.
The BCPA 3 jacket was moved 250 m from the fabrication yard for the load-out onto a barge.
Tidal variation of 6 m, as well as high wind speeds, make Hazira a challenging location for marine operations, says Freight Wings, meaning the load-out operations could only take place once every fortnight.
Freight Wings deployed a fleet of self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT), ballast pumps, and an electronic barge monitoring system for the load-out operations. The barges were moored using winches, enabling a smooth load-out of the modules.
The engineering scope included the calculations of trailer stability, jacket/topside loading, lashing, mooring analyses and barge ballasting, amongst others. The method statement with these calculations was approved by Freight Wings' client and third party surveyors prior to each load-out.
