Pipeline project completed
An underwater gas pipeline maintenance project off Taranaki has been completed ahead of schedule despite the crew of 75 having to operate under strict Covid-19 restrictions.
The OMV New Zealand joint venture project was days under way when the alert level 4 lockdown came into effect on March 25.
OMV New Zealand own the Pohokura pipeline, which delivers gas condensate from the Pohokura platform B wellhead seven kilometres offshore to the Pohokura production station near Motunui.
The onshore facility produces 38 per cent of New Zealand’s gas production, with the pipeline supplying 25 per cent of that amount.
The company spent 12 months in preparation before the project began to minimise the impact of critical gas supply to North Island commercial customers, such as Fonterra.
OMV head of projects Kerry Williamson said the planned maintenance work involved divers working 12-hour shifts, in depths between 10 and 30 metres in varying low visibility, to replace bolts on 11, 300 millimetrediameter connecting section joints that make up the pipeline.
It was the first time that the bolts had been replaced since the pipeline was established back in 2005.
The specialised vessel, Normand Baltic, housed 75 personnel, including 25 divers as well as marine and project support staff, he said.
Isolation requirements were strictly adhered to, with staff being isolated for two weeks before coming on board the vessel prior to crew changes to protect the vessel’s ‘‘bubble’’, Williamson said.
‘‘The key was once the Covid19 isolation issues had been identified we then had to protect the vessel and treat it as our bubble and maintain it throughout the whole project.’’
Crew arriving from overseas to work were isolated for 14 days in Auckland, and flown to New Plymouth on chartered flights while New Zealanders were isolated in a New Plymouth hotel, he said.
‘‘OMV is proud of the collaboration across all of the companies and stakeholders involved to make this campaign a success,’’ he said.
‘‘It was excellent to see the commitment from the project team under pressure to press on and deliver the reinstatement of a critical part of New Zealand’s energy infrastructure.’’