Ampelmann wins contract for offshore support
Ampelmann has increased its level of support for offshore services in the Ivory Coast.
Dutch offshore access provider Ampelmann will support maintenance work on a floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) for MMA Offshore, the Australian marine and subsea services company, in the Côte d’Ivoire.
An A-type motion compensated gangway has been fitted to MMA Offshore’s MMA Privilege, a FiFi One dynamically positioned DP2 workboat designed for platform commissioning field maintenance tasks and coil tubing operations.
It has a Liebherr lattice boom crane for surface-to-platform lifts of up to 50 tonnes and can accommodate 239 people.
Ampelmann’s A-type gangway has already been fitted to the ship, which has arrived at location and will ensure. smooth and continuous crew change operations from the boat to the FPSO, says Ampelmann.
Ampelmann says it is well known in the West African offshore energy market, with more than 100,000 transfers having been carried out in the Côte d’Ivoire alone.
In September 2021, a huge offshore oil discovery was made in the area by Italian energy firm Eni, with potentially 2 billion barrels of oil and 2.4 trillion cubic feet of associated gas. A well has been drilled about 60km off the coast in about 1,200m of water, using a Saipem 10,000 drill ship that reached a depth of 3,445m in 30 days, Eni said.
The discovery and subsequent exploitation should mean a huge boost for the offshore energy services sector, but while Ampelmann confirmed the FPSO it was supporting was working for oil and gas operations, it refused to say who the operator was.
Motion compensated gangways like the A-type are important for offshore transfer operations because of their efficiency and safety, says Ampelmann, which offers 24/7 support by telephone once installations have been put in place by its own workers.
