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Deepwater Winch Delivery Underway
01 Oct 2003
Bodewes Winches has delivered a second series of storage winches for installation on GlobalSantaFe's Development Driller ll, the second of two ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling units under construction at the PPL Shipyard in Singapore.
The factory acceptance test was carried out during the summer at Bodewes' factory at Nieuwerkerk a/d IJssel in the Netherlands. The eight storage winches were then packed for transport, loaded onto an inland transport vessel which took them to Antwerp where they were transferred to a cargo ship bound for Singapore.
This batch of winches are the first in a series of deliveries for Development Driller ll and will be followed by traction winches with integrated windlasses, control cabins, guide sheaves, fairleads, and stopper plates for the change-over system.
The factory is currently busy producing the traction winches, which are due for delivery early next year.
The complete mooring system for the sister vessel Development Driller l was delivered earlier this year. This unit is nearing completion, with sea trials expected to start near the end of this year.
The mooring systems for the Development Driller vessels consist of eight winch units and operate with a combination of chain and steel wire rope in one combined winch frame. The system is capable of mooring the semi-submersibles in water depths to 7,500'. The system itself is unique in that GlobalSantaFe required a 16 point chain/wire rope mooring system to keep the rig on station even under extreme weather conditions. Mooring systems normally consist of only eight mooring lines.
MJ Information No: 18700
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