Aban Abraham Drillship Completes Sea Trials after Upgrades

Ulstein Sea of Solutions

Ulstein Sea of Solutions says the Aban Abraham drillship has successfully completed seatrials after a major upgrade has been performed at Sembawang Shipyard. Dutch design office Ulstein Sea of Solutions has been responsible for the concept and basic design of the upgrade to operate the DP vessel in deeper waters up to 6,600 feet.

The upgrade work on the Pelican-class vessel, owned by Aban Abraham Pte. Ltd., included a.o. widening of the beam by adding sponsons on both sides of the drillship to compensate for additional weight and provide sufficient buoyancy. A total of 3,500t displacement was gained by adding the sponsons, increasing deadweight capacity with an additional 1,400t.

The vessel's capacities for riser tensioning, riser storage, riser handling and mud storage has subsequently increased significantly to deal with the increased water depth. The upgrade also involved a new substructure with an increased drillfloor height and an increase in power generating capacity including a complete new power distribution and automation system.

As a future DP upgrade with two (2) azimuthing thrusters has been envisaged, space reservations have been made in the sponsons for installation of the thrusters and provisions have been made in the electrical switchboards.

Recent inclining tests showed the vessel met all design calculations and during seatrials the vessel reached a trial speed of 11 knots, allowing a service speed of 10 knots. Philippe Wintgens, master of the 'Aban Abraham,' is very pleased with the results, as also the vibrations are well within expectations. He said, "Ulstein Sea of Solutions has performed a design job well-done and we are very pleased with the support they gave during the conversion period."

Ulstein Sea of Solutions develops projects for operators, contractors and ship owners in the exploration, construction and production market, as well as the maritime transport market. It is a private company providing products and services on an independent and confidential basis. Beside designs for newbuild vessels, the Company is actively involved in upgrade and conversion projects for existing offshore vessels.


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