An International Oilfield Service Company needed a hook-up assistance for a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit which was being converted in a shipyard in Singapore. The unit was destined to operate for a multi-national oil and gas company’s operation in Angola.

Solution

Contrary to the traditional approach of using scaffolding as a temporary work platform to carry out the offshore activities, Axess proposed a more flexible solution with the use of a netting system.

To secure the temporary netting platform, tensioned steel wire ropes were first attached to the perimeter of the structural steelwork.  The primary work netting was installed around the work area to allow workers to move around, balance, and to provide an extra sense of security. Steel scaffold boards were then set on the steel wire rope “tramway” and secured with ratchet belts to ensure stability.

Results

After the platform was assembled, the hook-up and inspection activities were soon carried out quickly and efficiently due to the flexibility of the temporary netting system. It only took hours rather than days to change out the openings for the bell mouth installation. Not only did the method reduced the chance of dropped objects, but it also removed the task from the Critical Path of the hook-up process.