TurkStream Pipelay Job for Allseas

Swiss-based pipelay shipowner Allseas Group said December 8 it had been awarded a contract to lay the first line of the TurkStream offshore gas pipeline in the Black Sea, with an option for laying the second line too.

It did not disclose the value of the contract award by Gazprom-owned South Stream Transport BV. Allseas will start laying the first line in 2H2017.

According to the contract, Allseas is to lay more than 900km of pipes on the seabed. Allseas will engage the world's largest construction vessel, the dynamically positioned Pioneering Spirit (formerly Pieter Schelte) for the job, noting that it has pipelay equipment that enables it to install record-weight pipelines from shallow to ultra-deep water, and has an S-lay tension capacity of 2,000 metric tons. The vessel, currently in the Alexiahaven in Rotterdam, has a double-joint factory, six welding stations for double joints and six coating stations. 

In February 2016, Italy's Saipem filed a €759mn claim against Gazprom, after a contract it was awarded to lay the South Stream pipeline in the Black Sea was terminated by the Russian gas giant. 

Heavy-duty lift and pipelay ship Pioneering Spirit (Photo credit: Allseas) 

Mark Smedley