Marathon Oil’s Alba B3 compression platform is en route to installation in Equitorial Guinea.
With the compression platform on its way from Netherlands to Africa, the project reaches a major milestone.
The Alba project is managed by Heerema Fabrication Group (HFG) as main contractor, not only for fabrication but also for the installation, commissioning and hook-up.
The 5,800-tonne topside, built at Heerema’s Zwijndrecht yard will compress the gas from the existing Alba field to the processing facilities on Bioko Island.
The topside measures 40×40 meters and 35 meters in height. The jacket was constructed in Vlissingen, weighing 2,600 tonnes and with a height of 91 meters. The 33-meter-long bridge to connect the Alba B3 platform to the existing Alba B2 platform, and the 73-meter-tall flare were built by the local subcontractor ECG in Malabo.
The barge carrying the Alba B3 topside, jacket and pile sleeves will meet Heerema Marine Contractors’ crane vessel Thialf early next year at its final offshore destination in the Gulf of Guinea.
Heerma’s chief executive Koos-Jan van Brouwershaven, said: “Working on such a complex scope, executed at many different locations worldwide requires intensive communication and project management skills”.
The Alba gas and condensate field is located approximately 32km offshore from the capital Malabo, located on the island of Bioko in Equatorial Guinea.