Sheffield Forgemasters’ new company, Vulcan SFM, announced yesterday that it has landed a £700,000 project management deal.
Vulcan has won the contract to supply offshore oil-processing specialist Bluewater with nine mooring-system components for the Aoka Mizu, a 100,000 tonne Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) oil-processing vessel which will operate in the North Sea.
Sheffield Forgemasters’ foundry will cast some of the components for the mooring system but the forged pins, bushes and fasteners will be sourced from outside the group. The company’s machine shop will finish machine the pins and assemble the units. Specialist coating of the components to withstand the harsh environment of the North Sea will also be outsourced.
The finished units will form a crucial part of the heavy-duty mooring system which will hold the Aoka Mizu in place and connect it to a submersible buoy during its forthcoming operations at the Ettrick oil field, Northeast of Aberdeen.
Bluewater developed the Aoka Mizu’s turret-mooring system, which is suitable for water-depths of up to 3000m and designed for use in areas which are prone to hurricanes or icebergs. It will enable the Aoka Mizu FPSO to connect without any assistance to a pre-installed submersible buoy during the winter in the North Sea.
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