Heavy Lift Jack-up Apollo Refit Completed

DEME Offshore’s newest heavy-lift jack-up Apollo has recently completed a one-month conversion project at Damen Shiprepair Dunkerque (DSDu) that included the installation of a moon pool on the main deck.

According to DSDu, the technical demands combined with the limited time available required highly precise planning together with working around the clock in order to complete on time.

The moonpool installation involved creating an opening right through the center of the vessel, from the main deck down through the engine stores and finally through the hull. To achieve this without compromising the structural integrity of the 87.5-meter Apollo, the work was done in a strict sequence based on strength calculations of the ship’s structure so as to manage the weight distribution, DSDu said.

Before the works could begin, the vessel had to be maneuvered alongside the quay and then jacked up. This allowed the work to be conducted from a pontoon positioned directly beneath the hull.

(Photo: Damen)

“We performed the complete scope of work with the vessel jacked-up alongside the quay,” said Fabien Guillemot, commercial manager at DSDu. “For vessels of this type we do not always need to incur the added cost and time of drydocking for projects or mobilizations that require works below the waterline. The location of our shipyard in the east port of Dunkerque has a constant water level thanks to the locks that separate us from the open sea. That greatly simplifies operations like this.”

Apollo is now in Scotland for a wind farm installation project.

In June 2018, another DEME vessel, the 147-meter DEME Offshore heavy-lift jack-up Sea Installer, spent eight days at DSDu for the fitting of new spud cans and other works.