First Subsea Dives into Neptune Installation Project

Subsea connector specialist, First Subsea has completed the installation of four diverless bend stiffeners for risers and umbilicals on two submerged turret loading (STL) buoys for the Neptune Deep Water Project North and South, off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts.

The STL buoys will be used for mooring liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification vessels at the offshore processing, Neptune Deep Water Port. The bend stiffeners for each of the STL buoys are used for gas offloading risers and umbilicals carrying electrics and hydraulics. The bend stiffeners, supplied by Trelleborg Offshore UK, are connected using First Subsea diverless bend stiffener connectors (DBSC). The buoy was pre-fitted with female DBSC connectors to which the male connectors with the risers and umbilicals were installed.

"The bend stiffener installation went very smoothly. Once the First Subsea connector was prepared it was simply lowered overboard, positioned beneath the buoy and pulled into the pre-fitted DBSC receptacles," said Ole Kristoffer Andersen, Project Manager, BW Offshore Ltd.