VIDEO: Statoil awaits Aasta Hansteen topside arrival

Norwegian oil giant Statoil has launched a video of the Aasta Hansteen topside load out and sailaway from Ulsan, South Korea ahead of its arrival to Norway. 

The topside for the Statoil-operated gas field development in the Norwegian Sea started its journey from the Hyundai Heavy Industries’ shipyard in late September. The 24 000 tonne topside is being transported by the heavy transport vessel Dockwise White Marlin.

According to the latest AIS data, the transport vessel’s estimated arrival time to Olen, Norway is November 29.

When the topside arrives at its destination, it will be mounted on top of the massive spar substructure, which was upended in early July. The substructure for the world’s largest spar platform arrived from Hyundai Heavy Industries’ facility in Ulsan, South Korea to Norway on June 18 after a 14,500 nautical mile journey at sea.

The Aasta Hansteen platform will be Norway’s first spar platform in production. Spar is a cylindrical, partially submerged offshore drilling and production platform that is particularly well adapted to deepwater. In total the platform will be 320 meter tall, weighing 70 000 tonnes.

The gas discovery – previously named Luva – is situated at a depth of 1,300 meters in the Vøring area, 300 kilometers from land. Statoil is the operator of the field with Wintershall, OMV, and ConocoPhillips as partners.

Offshore Energy Today Staff