Trelleborg provides floatover technology to first project in West Africa

Trelleborg’s engineered products operation has successfully completed its supply of floatover equipment for Phase 3 of the DSO Escravos Gas Project; the operation’s first floatover in West Africa.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Ltd. (HHI) is constructing onshore and offshore works of the $620 million project off the coast of Nigeria. The project will process 400 million standard cubic feet of natural gas a day.

Contracted by HHI, Sweden-based Trelleborg provided Leg Mating Unit (LMU) pads for the floatover process, as well as surge fenders, shock pads and rubstrips to constitute the project’s boat-landing systems.

Trelleborg’s elastomeric pads were incorporated into HHI’s LMU steel structures. The pads are designed to take up static and dynamic forces of the topside structure, as well as the horizontal forces of open-sea motions during the floatover mating operation. Because of the large amount of load placed on the elastomer pads during the process, they had to be carefully engineered to provide optimum protection of the jacket and withstand environmental impact.

Additionally, particularly adverse weather and sea conditions meant Trelleborg engineers had to account for especially high sea swell and unpredictable winds when customising floatover technology for DSO Escravos.