Success for Wilton as SAIPEM J Lay Tower sets sail
Awarded to Wilton Engineering Services (part of the Wilton Group) by IHC EB, the contract encompassed the fabrication and construction of a giant 1500 tonne top tension J Lay Tower plus ancillary equipment for Saipem’s new Pipelay vessel - FDS2.
The Wilton Group, who are located at the Port Clarence Offshore Base Middlesbrough, received the 2 year multi million pound contract at the end of 2008, so it was a proud moment for all the construction team when the huge structure was finally complete and safely loaded onto a transport vessel heading for Korea to mate up with the FDS2 vessel in June 2010.
The J Lay Tower when erect has a height of approx 80 meters and 16m wide, Weighing in at approx 1800 tonnes with a top tension capacity of 1500 tonnes, this makes it one of the world’s most capable pipelay systems.
The load out was no easy task but utilising both Wilton’s RoRo angled quay and its main quay with heavy lift equipment to hand the structure was safely and steadily loaded out onto the transportation vessel which would be delivering the load to Korea.
Wilton Group Global Business Ambassador – Des Hatfield comments “with all the gloom and doom currently surrounding the world’s economies, it’s very rewarding at this time for a company like Wilton, based in the North East of England, to still be producing high quality, high specification structures and equipment for the world’s largest and best offshore contractors like Saipem, Technip and Acergy. With new contracts of a similar type now in production we look forward to expanding our expertise and services in the UK and Overseas”
Photo://Wilton
