Yolla Arrives at Port Taranaki (Video)

Fitzroy Engineering has had its 650-tonne Yolla MLE module loaded onto the Jascon 25 at the Port Taranaki in New Zealand.

Construction and assembly of the US$35 million module was completed at the Fitzroy Engineering fabrication facility in New Plymouth. The base module M1A was moved onto the pad in July with M2 and M3 lifted into place later that month, according to a company statement. The pad required comprehensive preparation to allow for seismic movement, wind loading and heavy crane operations.The Yolla platform is jointly owned by Australian firms Origin Energy and AWE.

Testing and commissioning was concluded in October. The module was transported on a specially built trailer from Waiwhakaiho to Port Taranaki earlier this month. The Jascon 25’s 800-tonne -capacity crane was used for the heavy lift onto the vessel’s deck. It will take another day to secure the shipment.

"What we call grillage – which are steel beams the module will sit on – has already been fitted on to the ship's deck. When the Yolla module is placed on that, we'll have a crew of about 20 welders who will secure it to the grillage,” Raj Kallath, Fitzroy Engineering project manager, told local reporters. "Once that is finished, everything will be set to go. We expect the ship to leave port some time on Thursday."

The Jascon 25 is scheduled to set sail Thursday for Australia's Bass Strait where the Yolla will be lifted onto a waiting offshore production platform in the Yolla gasfield.