Crowley delivers Jack/St Malo production facility to deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Crowley Maritime Corp.’s ocean class tugs have successfully delivered Chevron's Jack/St Malo semi-submersible production facility to its deepwater Gulf of Mexico location, 280 miles south of New Orleans, La. The facility was successfully moored and made storm safe at a depth of 7,000 ft between the Jack and St. Malo offshore oil and natural gas fields, which are within 25 mi of each other.

During the first stage, the nearshore phase, the topsides were skidded onto the company’s 455 series barge Julie B at the Keiwit facility dock in Ingleside, Texas, in Corpus Christi, where they were later lifted and installed onto the hull of Jack/St. Malo. Once in place and secured, the Ocean Wind and Ocean Wave next provided assistance by pushing the Jack/St. Malo facility, away from Corpus Christi, through the Port of Aransas, Texas, and out to deeper waters. The Ocean Sun followed the flotilla and was equipped to provide assistance, if needed.  

Relocation to deeper waters marked the beginning of the second phase of work, the offshore stage. Here, the Ocean Wind and Ocean Sun towed the facility to its final location, alongside the Crowley-contracted tugboat Harvey War Horse II. Also during this phase, the Solutions team arranged for the company’s 455 series barge 455 7, towed by Crowley’s tug Warrior, and third-party barge Marmac 400, towed by Crowley’s tug Pilot, to deliver the piles, or long pipe-like structures that serve as anchors for the platform, to the project site. Finally, the Marty J, towed by the Pilot, made three subsequent trips to the installation site to deliver additional equipment – including chains, connectors and line reels – that were used in the mooring of the floating facility.

In the final stage, the positioning phase, the Ocean Wind, Ocean Wave, Ocean Sky, Ocean Sun and Harvey War Horse II worked together to hold the Jack/St. Malo in its final location, and remained on site in a star pattern to provide support as the spar was connected to its moorings and made storm safe in more than 7,000 ft of water.

Scheduled to begin producing oil and natural gas later this year, the Chevron facility will have a capacity of 170,000 bopd and 42.5 MMcfgd. Jack/St. Malo will act as a hub for the 43 subsea wells, including pumps and other equipment on the seafloor.

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