Owner of 40-strong fleet wraps up oil & gas platform jacket job for McDermott in India and jack-up rig lift-off ops at Norwegian yard

Boa Offshore, a Norwegian owner of a 40-vessel fleet that provides support services to the marine and offshore oil, gas, and wind industry, has tucked two milestones under its belt by completing its assignments in India and Norway.

The firm describes the first project milestone as a significant one, entailing the transportation and launch of the living quarters and utility platform (LQUP) jacket from Lumut, Malaysia, to ONGC’s deepwater KG-DWN-98/2 oil and gas field located offshore India’s east coast.

The U.S.-based McDermott tapped Boa Offshore for the work after winning a deal with the Indian oil and gas giant in November 2023. The Norwegian player’s scope put its Boabarge 33 semi-submersible to work. The offshore installation segment saw the LQUP jacket lifted using a combination of barge submersion and lifting by the DB50 heavy lift vessel.

While explaining that the completion of the project demonstrates the project management, operational expertise, and capabilities of its fleet, Boa Offshore emphasized: “This project highlights BOA’s commitment to delivering complex offshore engineering solutions with precision and safety.

“We are very proud of our project team’s dedication and the seamless collaboration with McDermott, which was essential in overcoming the logistical and technical challenges presented by this operation. We extend our thanks to McDermott for entrusting us with this critical operation and to our dedicated team, whose expertise and hard work made this achievement possible.”

The development of Block KG-DWN-98/2 encompasses 23 subsea wells producing via the FPSO Armada Sterling V and a fixed platform. The project hit a production milestone when the first gas at the U field was achieved in 2020. Four years later, the first oil was produced in January 2024 from the M field, followed by the initial crude oil offtake in March.

The FPSO Armada Sterling V deployed at the KG-DWN-98/2 deepwater block offshore Kakinada is owned by a joint venture encompassing SP Energy (70%) and Malaysia’s Bumi Armada (30%), representing Shapoorji Pallonji’s fourth FPSO in total and its third one for Indian waters.

According to ONGC, the 98/2 project will increase its total oil and gas production by 11% and 15%, respectively, with the peak production expected to be 45,000 bopd and over 10 mmscmd of gas, contributing significantly towards the vision shared by Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister, of an energy Aatmanirbhar Bharat, which translates to ‘self-reliant India.’

India’s government-owned energy company, which earmarked approximately $1.2 billion per year by 2025 for oil and gas exploration activities and about ₹1 trillion (about $12.03 billion) in total by 2030 for multiple green initiatives, placed two orders related to subsea work recently.

This enables Larsen & Toubro’s Hydrocarbon vertical (L&T Energy) to perform engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning of four wellhead platforms, a 140-kilometer pipeline, and associated topside modifications for Daman Upside Development Project-Wellhead Platforms & Pipelines (DUDP-WP), off India’s west coast.

Meanwhile, Boa Offshore has joined forces with Westcon Yards for a project it sees as “a complex and innovative operation.” The work refers to the float-on, shifting, and float-off operation of the four-legged jack-up rig, Haven, onto the semi-submersible Boabarge 36.

“This unique project involved a coordinated lifting operation, utilizing both the submerging capabilities of Boabarge 36 and the jacking system of the two of Haven’s legs. We extend our sincere thanks to Westcon Yards for their excellent cooperation and for entrusting BOA for this specialized task,” underlined the Norwegian firm.

𝗕𝗢𝗔 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸-𝘂𝗽 𝗿𝗶𝗴

Video credit: Andreas Vallesholm

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The Haven self-elevating accommodation unit, built for the harsh North Sea offshore environment with high safety specifications and efficient hotel facilities, won its most recent contract in March 2023 to supply accommodation services to Draupner from October 2024 for ten months, which can be extended by up to six more months.

While Jacktel, a company listed on the NOTC, is the sole owner of Haven, Macro Offshore Management acts as the rig’s technical and commercial manager. The jack-up was serving TotalEnergies’ Tyra field development in Denmark until mid-2024. With the Draupner contract and the deal with Aker BP, Haven is committed until the end of 2027 and will be available for new contracts in Q1 2028.

Last November, Boa Offshore showcased a new in-house design for future semi-submersible heavy lift barges, which are said to be capable of handling the requirements of any industry or segment requiring heavy loads, large footprints, and extreme submersing depths.

The Norwegian player was targeting the selection of a shipyard to carry out the work within 2024, with the first barge anticipated to be in operation in 2026.