Sonardyne equips World’s largest offshore construction vessel
Swiss-based Allseas Group’s Pieter Schelte, at 382 metres long and 124 metres wide the world’s largest offshore pipelay and platform installation vessel, has been equipped with a Sonardyne Ranger 2 USBL acoustic positioning system. It will be used as a high-precision independent reference facility for the vessel’s Kongsberg dynamic positioning system during structure installation or pipelay operations for which maintaining a steady position is crucial.
Sonardyne officials at its Yateley plant in Hampshire, UK, say a key factor in Allseas’ decision to select Ranger 2 is its ability to deliver fast, accurate and repeatable position updates in all water depths and operating conditions. Built by Daewoo Heavy Industries in South Korea at a reported cost of £1.9 billion and capable of lifting loads of 48,000 tonnes, Pieter Schelte arrived at Rotterdam at the beginning of January. It will remain at the port for installation and testing of its main mission equipment before commencing operations this summer.
By David Goodfellow
