MONUMENTAL PROJECT SEES MOTIVE EXECUTE LARGEST BUILD TO DATE

320Te WLL HYDRAULIC DRUM WINCH

480kW TRIPLE PUMP HPU

MASTER PLC CONTROL STATION

240Te SWL OVERBOARDING SHEAVE

ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT

At the end of 2019 Motive were approached to supply a unique solution for a Deepwater project in Brazilian waters. Our client required the supply of equipment and personnel to assist with the deployment of 35 FPSO mooring piles weighing up to 120Te as part of the Mero 1 project.

Commissioned by Petrobras, the FPSO Guanabara will be installed in the Mero field, belonging to the Libra Block in the Santos Basin pre-salt area. The FPSO will be capable of processing per day 180,000 barrels of crude oil 424 million standard cubic feet of gas and 225,000 barrels of water injection and has a storage capacity of 1,400,000 barrels of crude oil.

The Challenge

The obvious challenges of this project lay in the water depth and unique application of the winch which was being used to assist in lowering the anchor piles to a maximum depth of 2100m, 100m above seabed.

The vessel main crane, a smaller tugger winch and the Motive winch were being used in parallel to overboard and lower the torpedo piles to depth, with ROV trigger-release rigging launching the pile into the seabed. Once launched, the Motive winch would be used to stretch the chain, verifying the pile as secure and suitable for use to moor the FPSO.

This project would see Motive design and manufacture its largest build to date – a 320Te WLL Hydraulic Drum Winch which would become known as the ‘Beast from the North East’, its unveiling coinciding with our celebrations of ten years of Motive.

The Solution

The solution delivered by Motive was of truly immense proportions. The custom package included the 320Te WLL winch with 2,200m of 86mm non-rotating wire rope achieving a 178Te SWL load on the top layer, and a triple pump hydraulic HPU with installed power of 480kW, delivering maximum output pressure of 350 Bar and 1050LPM, and a 240Te SWL overboarding sheave.

A custom master PLC control station was designed with proportional pressure and speed control, level wind control, and health monitoring capabilities. The PLC also incorporated various integrated safety features such as hot oil shutdown, low oil level alarms / shutdowns, and wire out cut safety limit.

Fully designed, engineered, manufactured, and commissioned from our global headquarters in Scotland, the winch underwent a rigorous testing regime, including a load test of the winch to over 200Te using Motive’s 300Te WLL test bed.

The winch left our site in November 2019 to embark on its journey to Brazil. With a gross weight of 146Te, Motive contracted specialist support to move the winch and associated equipment from Banff to Peterhead, where it was loaded using a 1000Te mobile port side crane onto a dedicated chartered coaster vessel.

From Peterhead the winch made its onward journey to Spain, where Motive personnel commissioned and installed the winch onboard the Jumbo Maritime vessel ‘The Fairplayer’ - one of a new class of heavy lift mega-ships built to transport huge equipment.

Once in Brazilian waters, Motive personnel joined the vessel to begin the pile installation campaign in February 2021, with all equipment working faultlessly until the campaign ended in July 2021.

Through excellent collaboration, detailed planning and extensive engineering Motive worked with our partners and client to achieve success in this monumental project.

Motive has an extensive track record in delivering bespoke solutions and the scope of supply on this project is no exception. Despite the enormity of the equipment, Motive successfully mobilised everything from our premises, including installation of the project wire rope which saved not only costly works on the quayside and vessel, but also valuable time on the overall vessel mobilisation schedule.

The provision of our experienced personnel ensured the equipment - and ultimately the scope of work - was executed smoothly and safely, without incident.