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'Thunder Horse' Gets to Texas PDQ
01 Oct 2004
Dutch heavy transport shipping company Dockwise further advanced the market for moving ultra-large and heavy items by sea when it delivered the largest semi-submersible Production & Drilling Quarters (PDQ) ever built to Texas last month.
BP's 59,500 ton Thunder Horse platform left the South Korean builders yard of DSME on 23 July on board the largest heavy transport vessel in the Dockwise fleet, the 76,061dwt semi-submersible Blue Marlin .Following a smooth float-on operation the vessel sailed 15,813nm via the Cape of Good Hope to arrive at the Kiewit yard in Corpus Christi eight weeks later, for an average speed of 11 knots.
The Thunder Horse unit measures 155.95m LOA by 113.88 wide and has a total height of 132.10m. Dockwise claims their Blue Marlin is the only vessel in the world capable of transporting ultra-large structures up to 73,000 tons.
'With the latest conversion of the Blue Marlin and subsequent delivery of the BP Thunder Horse PDQ, we are convinced we have opened up a burgeoning market for transportation of ultra-large and heavy units, said Rob Schoenmaker of Dockwise.
'We can now offer oil companies the transportation of fully integrated units to their final destination, eliminating final assembly, hook-up and commissioning on site.
'Fully integrated units can now be constructed at any location of choice, regardless of distance to destination.'
MJ Information No: 19921
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