Solitaire (ship)

For other ships, see HMS Solitaire.

Solitaire, one of the largest pipe-laying ships in the world
History
Name	Trentwood Solitaire
Owner	Allseas Group
Port of registry	-2015: Panama,  Panama 2015 onwards: Valletta,  Malta[1]
Builder	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hiroshima, Japan
Yard number	223
Launched	17 December 1971[2]
Completed	1972
Identification	IMO number: 7129049 MMSI number: 249118000 Callsign: 9HA4114[1]
Status	In service
General characteristics
Tonnage	59193 DWT: 129479[2]
Length	300 m (984 ft)
Beam	40.6 m (133.2 ft)[2]
Draught	17.62 m
Depth	24.00 m
Propulsion	8x Wartsila 6R46B , 51.50 MW
Speed	14.5 kn[2]
Crew	420

Solitaire is a large deep-sea pipe laying ship. It was at the time of conversion the world's largest pipe-laying ship at 300 metres (984 ft) long (excluding pipe-laying apparatus)^[3] and 96,000 tonnes (94,000 long tons; 106,000 short tons).^[4] When fully operational she has a crew of 420,^[4] a pipe carrying capacity of 22,000 tonnes and a pipe lay speed of more than 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) a day.^[5] The ship is owned by the Allseas Group, a Dutch pipelaying and marine construction firm with their headquarters in Switzerland.^[6]

History

The ship was initially built in 1972 as a bulk carrier and launched as Trentwood by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at their shipyard in Hiroshima, Japan.^[2]

In 1992, Allseas acquired Trentwood for conversion into a pipelaying vessel. Allseas awarded the conversion contract to Sembawang Shipyards in Singapore on a lump sum basis; however, the contract was terminated in 1995. The ship was subsequently converted at the Swan Hunter yard on Tyneside, United Kingdom.^[7] Solitaire laid her first pipe on Statoil's Europipe project in 1999.^[8]

Allseas and Sembcorp reached a settlement for the Solitaire arbitration in 2006.^[9]

In 2006, while working on the Atwater Valley and Independence Trail projects in the Gulf of Mexico, Solitaire set new depth records, laying 10-inch pipeline in a water depth of 2,775 metres (9,104 ft) and 24-inch pipeline in a water depth of 2,550 metres (8,370 ft).^[10]

Among other ships, Solitaire laid the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea in 2019—2020.^[11]

References

1. "Solitaire (IMO: 7129049)". Vessel Tracker. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
2. "Search results for "7129049"". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
3. "Solitaire, one of the largest pipelay vessels in the world". Allseas. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
4. "Killybegs Giant ship boost". Donegal Post. 16 July 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
5. "Solitaire". Archived from the original on 5 March 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
6. Palmer, Andrew Clennel (2004). Subsea pipeline engineering. PennWell Books. p. 360. ISBN 978-1-59370-013-3.
7. "Major deepwater pipelay vessel starts work in North Sea". www.ogj.com.
8. "Solitaire undergoes preparatory re-vamp as GoM developments head deeper". www.offshore-mag.com.
9. "SembCorp and Allseas reach full and final settlement for Solitaire arbitration" (PDF). www.allseas.com.
10. "World's deepest floating production facility nears completion". www.ogj.com.
11. Djursing, Thomas (7 January 2020). "Galleri: 430 arbejdere lægger fremtidens gasrør i Østersøen". Ingeniøren (in Danish).

External links

• 2min Video on YouTube, from Mighty Ships