Conquest Offshore News

A sunken derrick barge has been raised from the Gulf of Mexico seafloor following several months of planning, engineering, on-site preparations and the heaviest salvage lift ever accomplished in the Americas, said marine services and wreck removal specialists Resolve Salvage and Fire Americas.The 350 ft x 100 ft derrick barge DB1 sank 30 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico on October 22, 2017, when adverse weather caused it to drag anchors and contact the offshore platform that the DB1 was engaged in removing.

Conquest Offshore’s MB-1 heavy lift barge was the key asset in the largest wreck removal recorded in 2016. Conquest MB-1 removed the Troll Solution jack-up rig from the seabed 30 meters deep of the Bay of Campeche, Mexico. The accident occurred back in May 2015 when the Troll Solution tilted during the positioning to carry out maintenance work related to the Caan Alf production platform, operated by PEMEX, Mexico’s National Oil Company. The jack-up tilted due to a fault in one of its legs, causing it to sink into the seabed, according to local sources.

Conquest Offshore was contracted by Allseas to remove a 300-ton crane and transport and install a 850-ton Huisman crane on board of one of the largest pipe-lay vessels in the world, Allseas Solitaire. The 397-meter vessel MV Solitaire is the largest ship ever to have passed IJmuiden’s massive sea lock after which the ship was berthed at Dutch Offshore Base in Amsterdam. The pipe-laying vessel is used for the construction of natural gas pipeline systems and oil pipelines. Before the vessel is scheduled to return to sea in summer 2016…

DNV GL developed a new unmanned floating LNG concept that it claims overcomes many of the challenges faced by operators looking to unlock the potential of remote offshore gas fields. Called Solitude, DNV GL said the concept demonstrates how technological advances can be combined into a solution that offers an estimated 20% reduction in annual OPEX, only adding a few percent increase in CAPEX and at the same time increasing overall safety. Foreseeing the need for more remote projects to be able to overcome even more challenging cost barriers…

Conquest Offshore, together with deugro Denmark A/S, has developed an installation system for monopiles and transition pieces, supported by Temporary Works Design (TWD) and Barge Master. Aiming to produce a solution for optimizing the installation process within the offshore wind industry, the parties have combined their experience and knowledge of floating installation, offshore skidding, upending, pile handling and motion compensated tools and to develop the new floating installation concept. The newly designed skidding system makes a full deck load on the 136 meter barge possible. The ability to upend monopiles (from deck and floating) and the use of a specially designed motion compensated pile gripper provide the means for floating installation.

Costa Concordia floats again; Dutch Crane barge Conquest MB1 stays around for assistance. The disaster cruise ship Costa Concordia floats again, and Dutch company Conquest Offshore reported that the work of its Conquest MB1 crane ship and her crew is almost done. In cooperation with a large group of international companies, Conquest Offshore has in the recent months helped to install the sponsons used to refloat the Costa Concordia. The salvage of the Costa Concordia had a number of alternatives.

Maritime consultancy firm MirTac announced that Conquest Offshore has purchased the Star software and related database and implementation services. Conquest Offshore will be implementing the maintenance, purchase and safety management software both in the office as well as onboard its fleet. The Star software will support Conquest Offshore with the management of maintenance planning, inspections, purchasing and spare parts, document control, safety and environmental procedures and onboard barge administration.

Accompanied by tugs En Avant 20 and Sea Charly Conquest MB1 is outbound Flushing, the Netherlands, heading for London gateway, U.K. Conquest MB1 is under contract of charterer DEME Environmental Contractors (DEC) for a project at the London Gateway. The 136m x 36m x 8m barge has a free deck space of 3,700 m² for 9,000 t of cargo, a permissible deck strength of min. 20 ton/m² and an accurate and fully automated anti-heeling system. The 1,400 ton crane enables custom reeving, with lifting speeds up towards 1.5 m/sec and a swing speed of 1 deg/sec.

Conquest MB I, a 1,500-ton offshore heavy lift crane barge from Conquest Offshore worked  (off)loading at the quay of Heerema, Flushing, the Netherlands. When changing from 400t, 800t to 1,600t hook block there is no need to change wires, blocks or sheaves. The blocks enables custom reeving for every project, being able to create lifting speeds up towards 1.5 meters per second. The swing system is powered by eight 22kW electrically driven motors operated through 2x2x2x2 left-right switch basis.

Offshore lifting trials with crane barge Conquest MB1 and Cargo / supply vessel Abis Dublin successfully completed. deugro Denmark A/S, together with partners Conquest Offshore and Amasus Shipping / Abis Shipping, have developed a plan for the installation of offshore windpark components. The approach of this plan is the use of a standard offshore barge with a 1,500 tons offshore crane (Conquest MB1) that will stay on location and will do the actual installation work on site (at present foundations and transition pieces only).

Last December 12th, Holland Offshore’s newbuild Dutch Blue arrived in Flushing, the Netherlands, towing the pontoon NP 328 which transported 6 hulls owned by Ruyven. This trip has been the maiden voyage of the Dutch Blue; a towing / support vessel built under Dutch flag regulations and owned by Holland Offshore, part of the Holland Shipyards Group. The vessel has a length of 52,8 m, a width of 13,2 m, a bollard pull well over 50 tons and is propelled by means of two Wärtsillä 8L20 main engines, which deliver a combined 4300 hp capacity. The vessel has a complement of 37 persons.