Upcoming load tests for Pioneering Spirit’s  Jacket lift system

Exciting times on board Pioneering Spirit  as we look ahead to the upcoming load tests for our revolutionary Jacket lift system.

As we enter the final few weeks of the installation phase, our engineers and crew are working full throttle to slot the final pieces of this epic jigsaw into place. See for yourself how the system is coming together in the video in the header.

Ballasting the two main beams

11,000 tonnes of high-density ballast has been mixed and pumped into the two main beams and two steel ballast frames, a 24-hour operation that took a week to complete! The ballast is required to help upend the massive 170-metre beams.

Final pieces of the Jacket lift system

100 km of electrical cables have been thread through the beams and upend system, connecting the many different drives, winches, pumps and push pull skids to power-up and control the entire system. A further 20, 4-km steel wire ropes have been reeved through the main hoist blocks and derrick hoist. Fixed and adjustable grillages, which will distribute force along the beams during jacket lift operations, were fitted in parallel.

Now preparations are ongoing to upend the beams, a challenging operation requiring the upend system, derrick hoist and water ballast systems to work simultaneously for the first time.

Want to know more about what it takes to make ground-breaking ideas a reality? Follow our engineers in our mini documentary on Pioneering Spirit’s  Jacket lift system journey: watch episode 1 and episode 2.