Valentine Receives New Lay Barge
Valentine Maritime’s new derrick equipped pipe laying barge has accommodation for 300 people and a 1,600-ton crane mounted on a 120 by 31.7 meter (393.6X104-foot) barge. VM’s DLB1600 was built over a three-year period at the Nanjing Tianshun Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., in China. Registered in Panama, the barge has now been delivered to the Abu Dubai-based owners for work in the Arabian Gulf.
The fully revolving 1,600 MT crane is electrically operated with a 70-meter main hook boom and a total of 76.9 meters to the tip of the auxiliary hook boom. The barge is equipped with pipe lay gear capable of laying 4-inch to 60-inch outside diameter pipe to depths of 300 meters.
The sophisticated ten-point mooring system features ten 150-MT single-drum electric driven MacGregor Plimsoll winches each loaded with 1,500 meters of 52 m/m-diameter wire rope. All anchor lines are fitted with sensing devices for measuring tension, wire-rope pay in or out length and speed. Closed circuit TV cameras allow the tower to monitor the winch drums.
A 26.8 by 3.3-meter helideck, mounted over the bow of the barge, is suitable for landing a Sikorshy S92/S61N helicopter. In addition to eight single berth, 14 twin-berth and 66 four-berth cabins, each with shower and toilet, the accommodation block includes galley, recreation rooms, hospital and offices.
The construction and accommodation facilities are supported by massive electrical capabilities provided by ten Cummins-powered electric generators. Each of these is comprised of a Cummins KTA50 CP diesel engine driving an 1150 kW generator. The generators are paralleled and synchronized.
