A giant job
During 24 hectic days a workforce of up to 100 men at a time spent thousand of hours upgrading Maersk Giant for new challenging jobs off Norway.
Henrik Søndergaard has been modifying drilling rigs before. Planning the sequence months before the rig arrives and ensuring that men and machinery can work together to send off the rig in time for new assignments.
The 36 years old engineer normally works at Maersk Contractors Operation Department in Copenhagen, but during the 24 hectic days at the end of 2006 his home was a shed in Sønderhavn, Esbjerg from where he orchestrated the upgrading and re-certification of the enormous jackup rig, Maersk Giant.
“I find it is fascinating to be entrusted with the planning and later given responsibility for the execution of the work. That is simply dotting the i,” he states.
Maersk Giant is sche-duled to work for Canadian Talisman Energy Inc in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, and in cooperation with Talisman the upgrading was planned in order to make the rig fit for working in this sector and handle more demanding activities in deeper waters.
The 36 years old engineer
normally works at Maersk
Contractors Operation
Department in Copenhagen,
but during the 24 hectic days
at the end of 2006 his home
was a shed in Sønderhavn,
Esbjerg from where he orchestered
the upgrading and re-certification
of the enormous jackup rig,
Maersk Giant.
Photo: Niels Husted
“Talisman wanted to be able to handle heavy equipment for a subsea well. This normally calls for a semi submersible, so we installed a so-called Texas deck, a work platform mounted on the stern of the rig.”
More muscular cranes
The 110 tons Texas deck delivered by Bladt Industries A/S is 22 x 17.5 meters making it possible to work at a stand-alone well. To meet similar requirements the 20 years old, rather maintenance-demanding cranes were replaced by new more work-friendly ones with higher capacity and further out-lay. The cranes have been up-graded from 43 to 65 tons and from 26 to 45 tons in order to handle hea-vier equipment shipped out by supply vessel.
“An up-grading like that makes it easier to obtain contracts which would other- wise be impossible to get near. Maersk Giant is now an attractive alternative to semi submersibles and floating cranes operating in a water depth of up to 107 meters.”
In order to be able to handle more complex wells accommodation has been increased from 87 to 100 persons. Normally the crew consists of 39 Maersk Contractors personnel and 8 contracted catering staff, but the need for bunks for subsea specialists and maintenance personnel requires an additional six new two-persons cabins and one single room.
High day-rate
It is the third time Esbjerg Harbour is hosting an overhaul of the 20 years old rig. It is not a regular event, but prior to each re-certification it is assessed if the extent of the up-grading and approvals justify docking the rig.
“Re-certification is primarily focusing at drilling equipment like topdrive, pipe hand-ling equipment, drawwork etc. and the hull may have its welding and corrosion checked in addition to many other minor overhauls.”
As the day-rate for a rig is some 200,000-300,000 US$ no time is wasted when rigs like Maersk Giant and other rigs are taken off hire to be modified. The project plan states the schedule and the general lines of the project, but challenges always pop up demanding new consideration and quick decisions. That is why Henrik Søndergaard is heading a rather large project team of 7-8 specialists from Maersk Contractors in order to avoid bottlenecks.
Men at work: Leif Thomsen from
Semco Maritime working at
Maersk Giant.
Photo: Niels Husted
“One of the critical areas is the Texas deck, as it is a very large unit to install. The stern deck was reinforced by 70 tons of steel to be able to support it, and the new deck must be able to land 65 tons and sustain the onslaught of wind and weather. The cranes are large, too, and so is the entire drilling package. We are busy, but that is the way it should be, as we other-wise would have had too much time for the job.”
Working around the clock
In addition to the up-grading and re-certification to be approved by DnV four new shakers are installed in order to handle the larger amount of cuttings emerging mixed with the drilling mud. The shakers are rinsing the mud in order to re-cycle it. Furthermore, Maersk Giant got two new life boats from Norsafe, each able to accomodate 70 persons.
While Maersk Giant was lying in Esbjerg up to 100 men at a time were working on the rig around the clock. The sub-contractors probably clocked some 40,000-60,000 man/hours, and the local giant, Semco Maritime, acted as the main supplier of manpower and hours. Electricity, steel and scaffolding work is mainly the responsibility of the main contractor, and Henrik Søndergaard estimates that a total of 80,000-90,000 man/hours were spent on Maersk Giant during its call at Esbjerg. 30-40 firms provides equipment and man/hours for some 100-200 million DKK, before Maersk Giant at midnight one early day in December was fit for departure from Esbjerg heading for new contracts in Norway – having gained a lot of additional strength.
