Trelleborg's engineered products operation supplied its floatover mating technology to one of the world's largest oil platforms;the SHWE Project in the Bay of Bengal,Myanmar.
Working closely with the engineering,procurement,construction and installation contractor,Hyundai Heavy Industries(HHI),Trelleborg provided a number of its leg mating units(LMU),deck support units(DSU),load transfer units(LTU)and floatover fender systems,to meet requirements for the heaviest load that an LMU has ever been commissioned for.
With the project's topside weighing in at a substantial 30,000 tonnes,one of the LMUs Trelleborg delivered was designed to bear a compression load of 12,450 metric tonnes.
Highest performance
SM Lee,General Manager at HHI,said:"This project was not without its challenges;we required the highest performance hardware for the job to meet the stringent specification and testing requirements,but we also wanted the solution to demonstrate value.
"Trelleborg's product expertise and engineering capabilities are first class,and coupled with state-of-the-art machinery,the company was the ideal choice for the project.In addition,Trelleborg was able to perform full-scale testing in-house,to the load specification required,ensuring that all hardware supplied was compliant,high performance and reliable."
JP Chia,Engineering Manager within the engineered products operation of Trelleborg Offshore&Construction,said:"Working on such a significant project with HHI has been a real achievement for Trelleborg,especially given the calibre of our competitors.Though the specification was demanding,we were able to produce tailor-made engineering solutions that were ideal for the environment and application,as well as handle the production from end-to-end.
"With a load capacity of 18,300 metric tonnes and weighing in at 600 tonnes itself,our test press is the largest in the world.This means that we're able to fully test our solutions for bigger and more complex projects.That's something that sets us apart in the industry."
Trelleborg DSUs and LMUs
Following a 23 day voyage,which totalled nearly 4,000 nautical miles from HHI's fabrication yard in Ulsan,Republic of Korea,the topside finally reached its destination at a water depth of approximately 110 meters.
The barge which transported the topside was equipped with eight of Trelleborg's DSUs.These were fixed to the deck support frame to allow horizontal movement between the deck and deck support frame during and after the mating process,when the barge separates from the topside.
Four of Trelleborg's LMUs were used to take up the static and dynamic load of the topside structure during installation onto the pre-installed substructure.In addition,four LTUs were provided to transfer all the system loads,as well as providing substantial dampening effect to minimise any damage to the supporting structure.
