The transport 'Smit Anambas' has been fitted with a 500-tonne single-block barge accommodation (SBBA) unit, as part of its recently completed conversion into a cable-lay pontoon by Shipyard De Hoop of the Netherlands.
De Hoop was approached by Global Marine Systems in the first half of 2011 to perform the conversion of the 'Smit Anambas', a chartered semi-submersible offshore transport barge measuring 115 metres in length by 31.6 metres in breadth. For cable-laying operation in the North Sea, it needed to accommodate a crew of 60. However, the vessel did not have suitable accommodation for so many people.
De Hoop was therefore requested to design and build a fully self-supporting four-level accommodation unit. The contract for a SBBA was signed at the beginning of July and was delivered on January 13 – a very short throughput time that also included the full engineering of the unit. The SBBA has its own generators for electric power, and its own water makers and sewage treatment units. Everything is designed in such a way that wherever the SBBA is situated, it can always be fully operational.
The assembled SBBA was transported from De Hoop's Lobith yard to its quay in Rotterdam. There, it was lifted onto the 'Smit Anambas' in co-operation with Dutch lifting company Mammoet, which needed to bring in two lifting vessels to the operation.
De Hoop also undertook the hook-up and commissioning of the SBBA. This included the placement of various platforms and two rescue boats with davits. All equipment, including cranes, a large plough, swing arm, tensioner, and the 3,000-tonne cable carousel will be installed in the UK.
