McDermott christens ultra-deepwater J-Lay vessel

McDermott has held the christening ceremony for its newly converted Amazon vessel in the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The vessel has undergone a “sophisticated” conversion from a construction vessel into an ultra-deepwater J-Lay vessel as part of McDermott’s global deepwater subsea strategy.

The upgraded specifications enable highly automated operations, the production of hex joints from single or double joints using an onboard multi-joint facility and a pipe hold capacity of 10,000 metric tons, McDermott said.

According to the company, the vessel’s increased level of automation also enables a significant reduction in the crew numbers required to safely perform pipelay operations.

 The vessel is said to be designed to be self-sufficient, allowing easy transition from project to project and providing pull-through opportunities for the rest of the McDermott subsea fleet.

“Customers around the world are looking to this game changing vessel to deliver their ultra-deepwater projects,” said Mahesh Swaminathan, senior vice president, Subsea and Floating Facilities at McDermott. “The world-class pipeline system, installation versatility and advanced technology behind the upgrade significantly elevates its ability to efficiently deliver safe, quality-driven results.”

To remind, Amazon arrived in Rotterdam to start its transformation back in July 2019.

Dutch-based Royal IHC was in charge of the design and build of the vessel’s J-Lay system and overall management of the modification project.

The physical modifications included the removal of the existing pipelay system and its replacement with a new J-lay system with a top dynamic capacity of 1,500 tonnes.

Following the completion of the conversion, Amazon will work on the Whale development in Alaminos Canyon in the Gulf of Mexico, under an EPCI contract that McDermott won in September last year.

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