VIDEO: Heavy transport vessel carrying batch of Mariner modules berths at Lerwick

Lerwick Port Authority has informed that the heavy transport vessel Forte arrived at the port loaded with modules for Statoil’s Mariner field located in the UK sector of the North Sea. 

The Port Authority said on Tuesday that the vessel would remain there for several days to enable final preparatory works on the modules before transport offshore.

To remind, the Mariner topside modules, weighing a total of more than 38,000 tonnes, are being shipped from South Korea to the North Sea on five heavy transport vessels. Forte was the first one to leave South Korea in early May.

Another vessel, the Mighty Servant 1, left the DSME yard carrying the Mariner modules on June 8 and the Mighty Servant 3 reached Lerwick late last week.

The 38,000 tonne-heavy topside consists of eight modules and a flare. According to Statoil, the modules will be installed offshore by the heavy lift vessel Saipem 7000 during the summer with the start-up of the Mariner field planned for the second half of 2018.

Mariner

Mariner, discovered in 1981 some 150 km east of the Shetland Islands, is one of the largest projects currently under development in the UKCS.

The development includes a production, drilling, and quarters platform based on a steel jacket, named Mariner A, with a floating storage unit, called Mariner B. Drilling will be carried out from the Mariner A platform, with a jack-up rig assisting for the first four years.

The license is operated by Statoil with 65.1 percent interest with partners JX Nippon, Siccar Point Energy, and Dyas owning 20, 8.9, and 6 percent interest, respectively.

Offshore Energy Today Staff / Video: Lerwick Port Authority (Alexander Simpson)