BP as operator of the Shah Deniz gas and condensate development project, is pleased to announce that yesterday the completed hull of the Shah Deniz TPG500 platform was successfully transferred from the Floating Dry Dock (FDD) “Yusif Ibrahimov” in the South Bay of Baku, to the topsides fabrication yard at Zykh for final installation of the platform legs and completion of the topsides facilities.
The parties to the Shah Deniz Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) are: BP (operator – 25,5%), Statoil (25,5%), the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR – 10%), LUKAgip (10%), NICO (10%), Total (10%), and TPAO (9%).
Following the successful sea tow transfer of the TPG 500 integrated hull from the Floating Dry Dock operated by the Caspian Shipyard Company (CSC) to the Zykh yard, the hull is now moored at the Zykh 4 Quayside, where the Topsides integration works will commence soon. The final weight of the TPG 500 Hull is about of 13,500 tonnes at the time of delivery to the Zykh site.
The four individual hull strips arrived in Baku in October last year and were safely floated onto the newly-refurbished dry dock. It took us five months to join the four strips into a single floating unit and achieve the milestone for the fully integrated hull.
Rob Kelly, BP’s Vice-President, Shah Deniz, said:” A multi-national labour force of over 1,000 people worked very hard at the Dry Dock to deliver this important milestone. Safety has been a key issue with training in BP’s Golden Rules, Specific Inductions for the Yard, Advanced Safety Auditing and Hazard observations being conducted in each language of this multinational work force. We are proud that over 1,000,000 man hours have been expended without a single Day Away From Work Case and this achievement should be attributed to having spent in excess of 17,500 man-hours on the training process by both the of the Caspian Shipyard Company (CSC) and BP.
“Work at the CSC yard in Baku will continue with the fabrication of the three permanent Foundation (Spud) cans with a total weight of 3,500 tonnes, and a Helideck support structure, which are due to be completed early in the 4th quarter of 2005. These fabrications will then be transferred to the Zykh site as well and finally assembled. We expect that these activities will provide continuity of work and employment for many of the people our contractor is currently employing at the CSC yard.”
Notes to Editors:
The 15,000 tonne Floating Dry Dock “Yusif Ibrahimov” was fully refurbished during 2004 in preparation for docking the four TPG 500 Platform Hull strips which were transferred to Baku via the Volga Don canal system from Singapore where the individual strips were fabricated by Keppel Fels, the parent company of the Caspian Shipyard Company (CSC).
In addition to structural hull integration, work has been ongoing at the CSC yard to install many of the external platforms, crane pedestals, generator exhausts and heating and ventilation units on the upper main deck levels. This work was not able to be performed before the strips arrived in country due to the width and height restrictions of the canal systems en-route to Azerbaijan.
A programme of work for outfitting activities associated with commissioning priorities, has also been undertaken. This has been particularly successful and has allowed commissioning to commence at the CSC yard ahead of the planned schedule. Work at the Zykh facility operated on behalf of the Shah Deniz Project by Technip Maritime Offshore Limited (TMOL), has been ongoing since the third quarter of 2003 in preparation for the TPG 500 Hull arrival. This work has included a complete refurbishment of the Zykh 3 and 4 facilities resulting in a world-class offshore fabrication yard. The main construction activities at the Zykh yard have so far included the fabrication of the platform leg sections, assembly of the Drilling Equipment Set and preparation of the living quarters.
BP Press Office, Baku: +994 12 599 45 57