The conversion of the FPSO BW Cidade De São Vicente' is in its final stage. The Patriot Crane Pedestal, which has been specially designed by Inocean's engineers, was installed at a Singapore shipyard in early January 2009.
The Patriot Crane was one of many challenges that Inocean's engineers confronted in this project - a job that has been particularly demanding because of an ambitious time schedule. According to plan, the ship will be ready for production at the Tupi field in Brazil already in March this year.
New design
"An escape route on the deck restricted where the crane, more than 15 meters high and weighing 60 tons, could be installed," explains Reidar Berthelsen at Inocean. "Since it couldn't be centrally placed on the deck, the solution was to install it at a deck corner. It has never been done before with this category of ship. We had to design a completely new foundation concept with sufficient strength to handle the loads that the installation will meet in the harsh conditions of Brazilian waters. The photos show the cylinder that will carry the crane," Berthelsen says.
Scope
Inocean has been working with the upgrading of BW Cidade De São Vicente' since summer 2008 and is responsible for its hull and topside structural engineering as well as its technical documentation and drawings for class approval during the conversion.