International heavy lift specialist Mammoet has set a new record in modular construction with its installation of an oil and gas refining module weighing more than 14,000 tonnes in Indonesia.
The installation of the module in a single piece for the Jangkrik floating production unit (FPU) was not only an industry first, but also a significant timesaver – shaving months off the schedule – and safer.
An EPC and installation contract for the project was awarded to a consortium led by Saipem, which fabricated the integrated topside module (ITM) in the Karimun Island yard while Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) built the hull in Ulsan, South Korea.
Mammoet then installed a hydraulic skidding system with vertical jacks underneath the topside module to lift it off its temporary supports, weigh it and skid it out over nine skid beams from its construction area to the quayside for loadout onto the hull.
As the load out progressed a computerised ballast system with a capacity of 56,000 cubic metres, an hour was used to compensate for tidal differences and the weight of the topside as it was loaded.
Mammoet declared it had entered a new era where even bigger modules can be loaded onto hulls.