Today Qatargas installed its new liquefied natural gas berth 5 topsides module at Ras Laffan Port using marine transportation and installation vessel. The module was fabricated at Adyard in Mussaffah, United Arab Emirates and sailed to Qatar following load-out. The module weighs approximately 1000 tonnes. It was lifted into place on the Berth 5 marine platform using two cranes working in tandem, which each have a load capacity 900 tonnes.
The new berth is the first of its kind to be used in the region as it was built and installed as a modular unit. This innovation is typical of the Qatargas projects which have continuously tried to utilise the best available technology.
The modular build was used to reduce the overall schedule by allowing Berth 5 marine construction and module fabrication to proceed in parallel. The next berth is also adopting the modular topsides construction.
Mrs. Jayme Meier, Qatargas 2, Common LNG Sub-Project Manager said; “This project represents another pioneering milestone for Qatargas with the use of the modular topsides rather than building in-situ. By taking this innovative approach we have been able to build the marine platforms and topsides simultaneously and reduce the overall schedule by several months. However, the best achievement of this project is that it was completed with no lost time incidents. I would like to thank Adyard and CTJV contractors for working with the Qatargas team to achieve this success.”
The Qatargas 2 project is the first fully integrated value chain project in the industry and includes many different sub-projects and includes common infrastructure.