BLUE WATER WINS ITS BIGGEST PROJECT

Blue Water Shipping celebrated its 32 years birthday on Wednesday 1st september in a new Headquaters in Esbjerg where more than 500 business connections and friends were invited for an "open house" reception. The great event coincided with the big achievement of Blue Water - the winning of: TECHNIP / BP SHAH DANIZ GAS PRODUCTION PLATFORM PROJECT which is now in process.

At this very moment the two heavy lift vessels have passed the Red Sea through the Suez Canal to the Mediteranean Sea and further to the Black Sea and Caspian Sea via Volga-Don river system.

Blue Water has been awarded its biggest individual transport contract in close co-operation with the engineering company Master Marine specialized in technical drawings and calculations. The value / turnover of the order is more than US $15 millions.

The client is the big French contractor, Technip - but the final consignee is BP, Baku, Azerbaijan.

Blue Water is responsible for the transport of Technip's TPG 500 gas production platform. The platform is built in large modules at Keppel Fels Ship Yard in Singapore from where Blue Water arranges the transport via the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and further on via the Russian Don-Volga river system to the Caspian Sea.

The biggest modules (4 self-floating modules) weigh up to 4,200 tons, are 88 metres long, 16.65 metres wide and 13.8 metres high. The modules have a draught of 3.15 metres and are built to the maximum size that can pass through the locks of the Russian rivers. As the smallest lock is 17 metres wide and has a maximum draught of 3.20 metres there will not be much space in excess.

The entire transport project includes 4 large self-floating modules - with a total weight of approximately 15,000 tons - and around 40,000 m3/ 5,000 tons general cargo - living quarter modules, deck houses etc. for loading on 3 special heavy lift vessels from Singapore and reloaded in the Black Sea on to 3 river barges, 4 river vessels and 20-25 tug boats.

Loading at Singapore has been completed last week - and the ocean vessels are now approaching the Sea of Azov (at the Crimean Peninsula) in the Black Sea with expected arrival to Mariupol in early September. Here transhipment to Russian tug boats, barges and river vessels will take place for further transport on the Russian Volga Don river system at Rostov-on-Don and through 19 locks to the final river port, Astrakhan at the mouth of the Caspian Sea for final transport to Baku, Azerbaijan for delivery to the oil company BP in October.

The river system freezes in late November - and will not open up again until April 2005 when the ice melts. At that time Blue Water has another big shipment to complete the project. The biggest modules have been fitted with satellite equipment which makes it possible to follow the position via internet - and via our webside.

Below please find pictures of loading operation in Singapore:



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