New Malampaya platform installed

• Source: http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/1410130/new-malampaya-platform-installed
• Tuesday, September 1, 2015

By Eoin O'Cinneide

Contractor Arup has completed installation of the depletion compression platform for Shell’s Malampaya Phase 3 gas field project off the Philippines.

The platform sits in shallow water in the West Philippine Sea off the coast of Palawan.

Arup was also the designer of the existing platform on the field and was hired by the Anglo-Dutch supermajor in 2010 to provide engineering support services for fabrication and installation of what is a self-installing substructure.

The new substructure is 7750 tonnes, with 3300-tonne topsides and two Siemens compressors.

The new platform is linked by 43-metre bridge, also designed by Arup, to the original Malampaya platform.

Keppel Subic Shipyard fabricated the entire platform in its facility in Subic Bay, Philippines. This required a significant upgrade to the shipyard, including the construction of a 1500-tonne gantry crane, one of the tallest in South-East Asia.

The substructure is an adaptation of the Arup Concept Elevating platform, which uses a pre-installed jacking system to lower the platform’s 80-metre legs to the seabed and then lift the topsides clear of the water and into its final position. Boskalis was responsible for seabed preparation, towing and installation of the platform, with Mammoet contracted to provide jacking capability.