Allseas’ large 27-year-old pipelayer to be upgraded

Allseas is making moves to enhance the capabilities of its 27-year-old, 397-meter-long vessel Solitaire, described as one of the world’s most advanced and largest pipelay vessels.

Allseas has awarded a contract for the double joint factory (DJF) upgrade to Goriziane under which the Italian family-owned contractor will deliver all pipe handling deck equipment and the electrical and instrumentation (E&I) components necessary to power and control the systems.

Located at main deck level, the factory consists of two identical production lines where single 12-meter pipe joints are welded into 24-meter double joints before entering the main production line, resulting in a faster pipelay process, with improved weld quality and consistency.

According to Allseas, over 13,000 kilometers of steel pipe have passed through the DJF since the original equipment was designed and installed in 1998, thus modernizing requires major investment in the various pipe handling, tracking, processing, welding and inspection systems, as well as key structural modifications.

Delivery is expected in January 2026, with installation and commissioning to be performed in-house later the same year.

“This major investment is a cornerstone of Allseas’ commitment to maintain its position as the leading trunkline and deepwater pipeline contractor, and to advance installation capabilities and automation in our production processes,” said Roderik Heerema, Project Manager at Allseas.

In a separate announcement, the Dutch NextOcean, a spin-off from the Delft University of Technology which provides technology to predict actual waves at sea up to minutes ahead of time, revealed its technology had been installed onboard Solitaire. This follows the integration of the company’s technology on board Pioneering Spirit just a year ago.

Last month it was also reported that MacArtney had been appointed to enhance and future-proof remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations onboard Pioneering Spirit, Solitaire and Lorelay with the replacement of three existing hydraulic launch and recovery systems with the all-electric eLARS.

Solitaire has been operational since 1998 and is based on the same principles as Lorelay. The 397-meter-long vessel offers a pipe-carrying capacity of 22,000 tons and uses full dynamic positioning. It can accommodate 420 persons.