Transocean's drillship 'Deepwater Millennium' recently left the Port of Ngqura, South Africa, after undergoing a number of upgrades and modifications by DCD Marine.
The Port of Ngqura was selected due to the fact that, not only it is on the direct path of the 'Deepwater Millennium''s final destination in Mozambique, but also because it has a draft of 16 metres, which is suited to the vessel's minimum required depth of 15 metres. The ship arrived in port on 16 November 2011. Work then began on the project, which was carefully scheduled between the completion of the vessel's last contract and the commencement of its new contract off the Mozambiquan coastline.
The scope of the project included the manufacture and installation of new lifeboat davits and the lifeboat platforms. DCD was also responsible for the painting and coating of the decks and the installation of temporary living quarters (TLQ). On a more technical level, DCD installed a reverse osmosis system for the supply of fresh water; installed HiPAP (High Precision Acoustic Positioning) valves and replaced sea valves and pipes. In addition to the original work specified in the tender, DCD was also awarded a number of smaller work packages as the project advanced.
A total of 372,571 man hours was clocked on the project and included 110,751 directly from DCD Marine's employees; 98,428 hours from DCD-appointed sub-contractors and 163,392 hours from Transocean and Transocean-appointed sub-contractors. A total of 1,661 people underwent induction in order to prepare them for the expected challenges on the project.
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