Pioneering Spirit
"Pioneering Spirit" moving out after removal of Yme topsides, August 2016
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| History | |
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| Name: | Pioneering Spirit (formerly Pieter Schelte) |
| Owner: | Société d’Exploitation du Pioneering Spirit |
| Operator: | Allseas Engineering B.V. |
| Port of registry: |
Valletta,  Malta
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| Builder: | Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co, Geoje |
| Yard number: | 3401 |
| Launched: | 26 January 2013 |
| Identification: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 403,342 GT |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: |
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| Beam: | 124 m (407 ft) |
| Draft: | 10–27 m (33–89 ft) |
| Depth: | 30 m (98 ft) |
| Installed power: | 8 x MAN diesel generator sets (each 11,200 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 12 x Rolls-Royce Diesel-electric azimuth thrusters (each 6,050 kW) |
| Speed: | 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Capacity: | 48,000 tonne topsides lift capacity 25,000 tonne jacket lift capacity 2,000 tonne pipelay tensioner capacity |
| Crew: | Accommodation for 571 |
Pioneering Spirit (previously named Pieter Schelte) is the world's largest construction vessel, designed for the single-lift installation and removal of large oil and gas platforms and the installation of record-weight pipelines.
Designed entirely in-house by Swiss-based Allseas Group, the 382 m long, 124 m wide vessel was built in South Korea by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (2011–14) at a cost of €2.6 billion (US$3 billion), and commenced offshore operations in August 2016.
Pioneering Spirit set a world offshore lifting record of 13,500 t with her first commercial lift, removal of the Repsol-operated Yme mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) in the Norwegian North Sea, on August 22, 2016.
Allseas has committed to building an even larger version of the same design, "Amazing Grace", which is scheduled to be delivered in 2022.
Allseas first declared its intention to build a vessel capable of lifting entire platforms in 1987. The initial idea was based on two rigidly-connected, self-propelled supertankers, with a large slot at the bows to install platform topsides in one piece. Early designs featured a flotation and ballasting system and active motion compensation system to facilitate a controlled transfer of topsides weight from the vessel to a platform substructure. Allseas developed the original idea to include steel jacket installation, jackets and topsides removal and rigid pipelay capabilities.
In 2004 the emphasis switched from the conversion of two existing tankers to a newbuild hull. The decision was prompted by a lack of suitable vessels to convert, the lower costs associated with a new-build and the need to house sophisticated equipment – such as a dynamic commissioning system – in the hull. Although the design still featured a U-shaped slot, the word "catamaran" no longer applied.
Twenty years after the original idea was conceived, in 2007 Allseas announced plans to build "Pieter Schelte", a twin-hulled platform installation / decommissioning and pipelay vessel. Named after the offshore pioneer Pieter Schelte, father of the Allseas’ owner and founder Edward Heerema, the vessel design had a lifting system at its bow for lifting platform topsides up to 48,000 t, a lifting system at its stern for lifting steel jackets up to 25,000 t and pipelay equipment to handle pipe diameters ranging from 6 to 68 inches at water depths exceeding 4000 m (13,100 ft.).
Orders for machinery, including generators and thrusters, were placed in 2007 and for the high-tensile steel for the lifting systems in 2008. However, Allseas was forced to postpone the building schedule as the global financial crisis weakens funding and delays award of the hull construction contract. Detail Engineering was completed by Finnish engineering company Deltamarin in 2009. In June 2010 the main construction contract was signed with South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd.
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