Solitaire, the world’s largest dynamically positioned pipe layer spent Monday anchored in the bay before continuing her voyage from Norway to Italy. At 400 metres in length this behemoth of the ocean started life as the bulk carrier Trentwood in 1972. Converted to a pipe laying vessel at Swan Hunter in the late 1990’s rapidly became an industry giant in the world of underwater pipelaying.
Solitaire has achieved pipelay speeds in excess of 9 km/day, operating the latest version of Phoenix, the automatic welding system developed and manufactured by AllSeas her owners. As a result of the large number of welding stations on board, Solitaire is capable of installing over 1,000 km of pipeline in a single year, while her average pipelaying speed on large projects is almost double that of the largest competing lay vessels.
The ship has laid numerous deepwater pipelines. In 2007 she set the world record for ultra-deepwater pipeline installation, laying pipe to a depth of 2,775 m (9,100 ft) in the Gulf of Mexico.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here