Subsea Vessel for Shah Deniz 2 Re-Floated at Baku Shipyard
Thursday 19 May 2016
The Shah Deniz consortium has confirmed that the subsea construction vessel Khankendi has been refloated in the Caspian Sea following transportation from Singapore to Azerbaijan. The vessel was refloated at Baku Shipyard. The vessel was designed and is being built specifically to install subsea infrastructure for the huge Shah Deniz Stage 2 gas development project.
Once they arrived at Baku Shipyard, sections of the hull for the vessel were integrated with bow blocks built at the Caspian yard. Khankendi is 80 per cent complete and is on track for completion by April 2017, when Shah Deniz Stage 2 subsea construction activity is due to commence.
BP’s regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, Gordon Birrell said: “The launch of the vessel out of the drydock at the Baku Shipyard is an important milestone achieved by Shah Deniz Stage 2 project. The Shah Deniz consortium is proud to be involved in the construction of Khankendi, which, we believe, marks a new era in the shipbuilding history of not only Azerbaijan but also the entire Caspian region. The vessel will install subsea structures for the first time in the Caspian, at water depths of up to 550m.”
Khankendi is due to undertake subsea construction activity on the Shah Deniz field between 2017 and 2027. Built to DNV GL class, the vessel is 155m in length with a breadth of 32m. It will be able to work in a significant wave height of 2.5m and will have a 900 tonne main crane, an 18-man two-bell diving system, two work-class remotely operated vehicles, a moonpool, two engine rooms with 6 x 4.4MW and 2 x 3.2MW generators.