On Monday 28 July the topsides were lifted into place on the steel jacket on the Valemon field in the North Sea.

Produced by Samsung Heavy Industries this is the first Statoil topsides built in South Korea.

The structure sailed from the yard on 15 June this year, and after a quick stop in Åmøyfjorden, Stavanger, last Saturday, it headed out to the field. The transportation to Norway took 40 days.

“This is a major milestone for the project, the most important milestone of course being start-up towards the end of the year,” says Bjørn Laastad, vice president for Valemon field development.

The lift of the 9 750-tonne topsides took two hours, and was performed slightly earlier than initially assumed.

Thanks to good weather in the North Sea this summer, the Saipem 7000 crane vessel was available for lifting once the topsides arrived in Norway. The weather was favourable also when the crane vessel and the topsides arrived on the field.

“We had almost perfect lifting conditions,” Viktor Nilsen-Nygaard, head of Valemon transportation and installation, reports from the crane vessel.

After the topsides were lifted into place, the flare boom was installed.

Tags: Statoil