UTEC awarded pipeline survey contract in Australia

UTEC Survey (Australia) Pty Ltd has announced that it has been awarded the largest pipelay support survey and positioning contract in Australia.

The contract was awarded to UTEC by Saipem and involves the provision of offshore survey and positioning services during the pre-lay, lay and post-lay installation of a 41 in. dia. 889 km long pipeline which will connect the Ichthys LNG Project’s offshore central processing facility situated some 200 km off the coast of Western Australia with its onshore gas processing plant near Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory.

The pipeline, which will be installed in water depths up to 275 m, is the longest subsea gas pipeline in the Southern hemisphere and the fifth longest in the world.

Offshore activity will commence in May 2014 and will see UTEC providing survey and positioning services on a range of Saipem-owned and chartered vessels. Pre-lay survey works will be carried out from the Go Explorer, which will also provide touch-down monitoring support to the pipelay barges. The Semac-1 will start pipelay at the Darwin end and lay approximately 150 km of the 42 in. pipe before Saipem’s fourth generation pipelay vessel Castorone takes over to complete the pipelay out to the Ichthys field.

Simon Hird, UTEC Australia General Manager said: “When I joined UTEC just over a year ago it was clear that the foundations had been laid for the company to step up in Australia, to begin to win key target projects and to bring UTEC’s global brand to prominence in this country. The Ichthys Project contract was one of those key targets and I am immensely proud of our team who have demonstrated to Saipem that we are the right company to undertake this prestigious contract.”

Adapted from press release by Hannah Priestley-Eaton

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/08042014/utec_awarded_pipeline_survey_contract_in_australia/