Future Production has secured a new contract to deliver two tailormade Cantilever CombiCranes to Vantage Drilling International.
The CombiCranes are set to be installed on the Vantage-owned jackup rig Aquamarine Driller.
Bill Thomson, VP Marketing and Business Development at Vantage Drilling, says the Future Production crane deliveries will raise their ability to compete for future assignments, especially in the Southeast Asian market.
«The Future Production CombiCranes are a key part of Vantage upgrading our rigs to ensure they meet new simultaneous rig operations (SIMOPS) requirement from Operators. The two CombiCranes will allow us to use the cranes for equipment handling and other offline activities over platforms, in effect making the Aquamarine Driller able to compete and meet the newest requirements becoming prevalent in tenders in the Southeast Asian market in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.»
“Future Production has a great reputation for building bespoke quality equipment that meets and exceed a client`s needs. The tendering process was impressive, with Future Production proactively engaging with us to enhance the use and practicality of these cranes. We are happy to do business with Future Production, as they have shown to be open, practical and up front about the equipment specifications, how to minimize installation time, usage of the CombiCranes and any delivery constraints”, says Thomson.
Torstein Bringa, Future Production CEO, labels the new Vantage Drilling contract «strategically very important»:
“Vantage Drilling International is a new customer for us, and, simultaneously, this is the first time we deliver our CombiCrane to a jackup rig. Our core market has historically been equipment deliveries to floaters, with only occasional deliveries to jackups. Over the last couple of years, we have been in active dialogue with several jackup owners to improve their operations. These efforts have resulted in deliveries of Bonnet Exchange Systems, and now these two CombiCranes to Vantage.”
“Our goal is to provide products which address the rig owners and Oil Companies requirements to operate safer and more efficient rigs, and to increase their competitiveness. Combined, these Vantage Drilling product deliveries provide us with strategically valuable experiences we can utilise in the coming years towards the jackup market in general, and more notably towards the jackup market in Southeast Asia and the Middle East in particular”, says Bringa.
How the Future Production CombiCranes impact Aquamarine Driller
The Future Production CombiCrane is designed to assist during SIMOPS and general material handling operations below the cantilever, including wireline operations and lifting and handling of equipment on the Wellhead platforms.
The two crane deliveries improve the operational efficiency onboard Aquamarine Driller in several important areas:
First and foremost, the efficiency of the material handling operations below cantilever and on the wellhead platform is set to be greatly increased. Simultaneously, the rig up time for wireline operations are significantly reduced.
“A key focus of Vantage and our clients is use of the CombiCranes to reduce the cost per well for P&A operations. The cranes can also be used to lift between a Texas deck and the wellhead platform – dependent on the cantilever position”, says Bill Thomson.
Further technical close-up
The Future Production CombiCranes can be fitted to the cantilever in various ways;
- Running separately and directly on (underneath) the cantilever (Patent pending)
- Fixed to the cantilever or installed on vertical or horizontal running beams mounted inside or outside the cantilever
- SWL, reach, telescope, rotation, tilt, hook travel etc. can be adapted to the rig as required
The CombiCranes ordered by Vantage Drilling will be tailormade to fit the exact scope and measurements onboard Aquamarine Driller:
The cranes SWL is set to be 8t @ 7metres/4t @10 meters, and the telescope boom has a 360° rotation, with a typical vertical hook travel of 25 meters.
The CombiCranes are specifically designed to reduce maintenance requirements, and allow for easy access for periodic maintenance when the cantilever is retracted.
Normally, the The CombiCrane is operated from a Hydraulic Pilot Panel, with a Wireless Remote Panel as an optional delivery. In addition, a Wireless Remote Panel will also allow the operator to locate himself in the most favorable position during all operations.
According to Future Production Sales Manager Richard Loland the CombiCrane can also be used for transportation of personnel, but it requires that the cranes are delivered with an optional personnel basket and a Boom Tilt Function, which allows entrance to the personnel-basket from the access platforms inside the cantilever.
“To reduce modifications on the rig to a minimum, Future Production will tailor make crane foundations and rig interfaces to limit installation time as much as possible. This includes pre-installation of hydraulic control lines, interface steel etc. to reduce operational downtime to a minimum”, says Loland.
