As from March 6, 2019, the unique Safeway motion compensated offshore access system of the Dutch Van Aalst Group completed over 10,000 safe personnel transfers for Shell Nigeria Exploration & Production Company (SNEPCo) during a maintenance campaign on board the Bonga FPSO (Floating Production, Storage & Offloading).
To perform this maintenance and inspection project of the giant FPSO, the unique 28 metre long walk-to-work Seagull-type is installed on the 95-metre long multifunctional subsea vessel Olympic Triton, owned by Olympic Subsea ASA, Norway. Specifically for this Bonga-project the DP2 diesel electric ROV support vessel has been chartered by Temile Development Company, an indigenous shipping company operating in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
As both the Olympic Triton and the Bonga FPSO are vessels with individual movements in the water, the innovative and advanced control system of the Safeway Seagull was able to perform the Ship-to-Ship W2W operations as world’s first supplier without modifications or additional control units on the FPSO landing point.
The FPSO varies in draft due to its normal operations. The Safeway Seagull’s standard ten (10) meter vertical height adjustment of the gangway allowed the 10,000 workers and their tools to be safely transferred from the Olympic Triton to the Bonga FPSO and vice versa at a spectacular pace, leading to an increase in operational efficiency.
