China’s first deep-water semi-submersible drilling platform, COSLPIONEER, was delivered from Yantai CIMC Raffles for COSL recently. It represents another milestone to China’s offshore industry in the offshore engineering arena, which is presently dominated by yards in South Korea and Singapore.

The platform is one of the most advanced deepwater semi-submersible drilling platforms ever built, equipped with DP3 dynamic positioning and anchor mooring positioning systems and an unmanned cabin design to be remotely controlled from the navigation and operating rooms.

COSLPIONEER was designed and constructed in accordance with the regulations and standards stipulated by Norway waters and met the requirements of Norwegian Petroleum Safety Administration PSA, Norwegian Maritime Directorate NMD, DNV, the NORSOK petroleum industry safety standards and relevant traditional requirements for semi-submersible platforms. It can be deployed in the Norwegian North Sea as well as other regions in the world. As commented by COSL’s Chairman Liu Jian “the delivery of COSL Pioneer for operation represents an important milestone in upgrading COSL’s deep-water operation capabilities”.

The platform has an overall length of 104.5 meters, a module width of 65 meters and a module depth of 36.85 meters. It has a design draught from 9.5 meters to 17.75 meters, an operating water depth of 70- 750 meters, a maximum design wind speed of 51.5 meters per second, a maximum vertical drilling depth of 7,500 meters and a maximum variable deck load of 4,000 tons. The multi-function platform is able to accommodate 120 cabin crews.

DNV Site Manager Thomas Lo at Yantai CIMC Raffles says, “This project is like a journey for everyone involved. It transforms the yard from infancy to maturity in order to achieve the quality level of a complex offshore project. Meanwhile, with the added complexity, the yard manages to maintain a matching safety record. We have seen that the yard has developed innovative technology on the way. For example, the 20,000 ton overhead crane used for mating of the upper and lower hull is the world’s number one. With the continuous investment of the CIMIC Group, we will see even more rapid development at the yard to cater for the high-end offshore market. I wish the yard all the best and I feel that this yard has a great potential to be amongst the very best in China.”

DNV President Tor Svensen, Area Chair for Greater China Joerg Beiler and Offshore Director Carl Arne Carlsen were invited to present at the delivery ceremony held in Yantai. Commenting on the delivery of COSL Pioneer, Joerg Beiler says, “It’s another milestone achievement for China’s offshore industry. I congratulate all parties involved,”

“As a class society coming from the North Sea, we are very proud and happy to be actively engaged in the fast development of Chinese offshore industry. We will continue our endeavor to support our customers and partners in their pursuit of offshore engineering.” he continues.

Tags: DNV