Construction vessel Pioneering Spirit will soon get a heavy lift boost as its new jacket lift system has arrived in Rotterdam and is ready to be installed. The two huge steel beams for the vessel’s new jacket lift system (JLS) reached Rotterdam after a week long tow from the fabrication yard in northern Italy.

To remind, the 170-m hinged beams with integrated tail extensions, which lift and support jacket structures were towed onboard the Allseas’ cargo barge Iron Lady.

Now starts the challenge of installing these 6000-tonne mega steel structures on board Pioneering Spirit, Allseas said in its statement. This complex operation involves skidding the beams, inch by inch, over the aft deck to a final resting place where they will be aligned and connected with the hang-off frame and upend system.

The contrast between beam size and installation tolerances is minimal – the final alignment requirements of the 170-metre beams is less than 2 millimeters, the width of a paperclip!

Over the next couple of weeks, Allseas’ engineering offices will support the vessel crew to execute the latest milestone in the realisation of this new lift system.

Built to install and remove entire jackets up to 20,000 tonnes in a single lift and able to operate in hostile weather conditions, Allseas stresses that this new technology offers a safer and faster alternative to conventional systems.