The state-of-the-art Khankendi subsea construction vessel has been launched in Baku.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the ceremony.
President of the State Oil Company (SOCAR) Rovnag Abdullayev, BP Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey Gary Jones, Chairman of the Caspian Shipping Closed Joint Stock Company Rauf Valiyev informed the head of state of the works done under the project.
The vessel is 155 meters in length and 32 meters in width with 2000 square metres of deck space. It has a total weight of 17,600 tonnes, a carrying capacity of 5,000 metric tonnes at 6.5 metres draft and two engine rooms with 6 x 4.4MW and 2 x 3.2MW generators. It is equipped with dynamic positioning to allow working in 3.5 metre significant wave height, a 900-tonne main crane capable of placing 750 tonne subsea structures down to 600 metres below sea level, an 18-man two-bell diving system, two work-class ROVs and a strengthened moon pool.
The Khankendi can carry out complex activities without the need for anchors.
The vessel has a maximum capacity of 175 people on board, including the marine crew and discipline specialists. The personnel include both Azerbaijani nationals and expatriates with plans for extensive training, leading to the full nationalisation of the staff.
The Khankendi has been designed and built by the Baku Shipyard – a joint venture of SOCAR, the Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) and Keppel O&M.
The state-of-the-art subsea construction vessel has been specifically designed and built to install the biggest subsea production system in the Caspian Sea as part of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 project.
Addressing the ceremony marking the launch of the Khankendi subsea construction vessel, President Ilham Aliyev said:
– The commissioning of the Khankendi vessel is a truly historic event. I am glad that this giant ship has been built in Azerbaijan, in Baku. This vessel is named Khankendi. And this has a great meaning. Khankendi is our ancient city. The name of Khankendi is native and dear to us. It is no coincidence that this vessel, which meets unique global standards, has been given this name.
The construction of this vessel shows that any large construction work can be carried out in Azerbaijan today. The construction and commissioning of this vessel also show that our decision to build a shipyard was the right one. By making this decision at that time and allocating major investment for the construction of this plant, we pursued this very goal – for Azerbaijan to be capable of building vessels of any type. The construction of this vessel also shows that there is no vessel we could not build at this shipyard. Currently, four new vessels are also under construction – two ferries and two tankers, which will be operated by Caspian Shipping Closed Joint Stock Company
The construction of the Khankendi vessel cost about $400 million. This vessel will make an irreplaceable contribution to the development of the Shah Deniz gas field.
According to the information provided to me, there are only 10 vessels of this type in the world. One of them is in Azerbaijan and was built in Azerbaijan. Most of the crew that will work on this ship are Azerbaijani specialists. In other words, along with the construction of the vessel, trainings and preparatory work was carried out, and today both the ship’s captain and the majority of its crew are local personnel.
The development of the Shah Deniz gas field is a strategic project for us. I am glad that things are going well in this direction. I am told that preparatory work for Shah Deniz-2 gas field is currently at 96 per cent. It is possible to say that this project has already been implemented. Without this vessel, it would be impossible to develop Shah Deniz with great efficiency.
We are doing all this work in a consistent manner. Investments have been made and work with foreign partners is properly organized. Platforms, floating installations, such giant vessels, the Sangachal terminal, oil and gas pipelines are built in Azerbaijan. Major investments have been made in the oil and gas sector of Azerbaijan in a comprehensive, thoughtful and planned manner. Today we are seeing the result of that. I should note the joint activities of BP and SOCAR.
As a result of this cooperation, some historic achievements have already become a reality in the oil and gas sector of Azerbaijan.
I appreciate the activities of the Caspian Shipping Company. The activities of the shipping company meet international standards. The shipping company already works with a profit. So the successful development of the transport and energy infrastructure makes a great contribution to the overall development of our country.
You are probably aware that there will be a signing of a new contract for the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field in a few days. We will continue working on this field until 2050. This shows again that Azerbaijan has very large oil reserves.
I remember that some were saying before the signing of the Contract of the Century in 1994 that there was not enough oil in Azerbaijan, in Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli. We have been extracting oil and gas from Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli for 20 years now. Production began there in 1997. Twenty years on, a new contract is being signed, and oil will be produced from Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli at the proper level until 2050. It shows that our country has very large energy potential.
As for Shah Deniz, gas reserves in this field account for at least 1.2 trillion cubic meters. This is one of the largest gas fields in the world. In general, our gas resources constitute 2.6 trillion cubic meters. In other words, Azerbaijan will provide both itself and many countries with natural gas for at least another 100 years.
Baku Shipyard: A modern ship building, repair and conversion facility
Baku Shipyard (BSY) is a joint venture which was established on May 2011 by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan SOCAR (65%), Azerbaijan Investment Company (25%) & Keppel Offshore & Marine (10%). Main activities of the yard consist of the construction of a variety of vessels ranging from offshore support vessels, general cargo vessels, tugboats, crew boats and specialized vessels to tankers. The yard also undertakes ship repair and conversion of such vessels.
Baku Shipyard is equipped with all modern facilities for completion of new building, dry docking, repairing of all kind of marine and offshore vessels: It has a floating dock with a docking capacity of 25,000 tons and a transfer capacity of 18,000 tons; supported by the modern ship transfer system TTS.
Capabilities and signature
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Under a gantry crane with lifting capacity of 300 tons and width of 80 meters, it is possible to start the construction of 4 ships simultaneously (each with a length of 150 meters and width of 34 meters).
Within only four years, the yard realized several impressive projects such as building of a floating dock, tugboats, crew boats, a subsea construction vessel, pontoons.
“Socar-1” designed and built as steel hull and now the vessel is under balance of Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company and makes towing works for big vessels, barges in Caspian Sea.
3 crew boats “Zafar”, “Ufuq”, “Turan” are capable to transport personnel (up to 80 people) and various offshore oil and gas exploration facilities and etc. According to their specifications, they can operate at up to 100 miles from the coast.
Shah Deniz contract
On April 17, 2014 Baku Shipyard LLC secured a contract worth $378 million from BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Ltd, the operator of the Shah Deniz gas field development, to design and build a Subsea Construction Vessel (SCV).
Two hull strips of the “Khankendi” SCV were constructed in Singapore and shipped to Baku for the final joining with the bow block and hook-up with the accommodation block, which were constructed at Baku Shipyard. On 7 May, 2016 after the completion of integration works, the vessel was re-floated into the Caspian Sea at the Baku Shipyard quay.
All deck equipment of “Khankendi” (a 900-MT main crane, two of 10-MT and one 50-MT auxiliary cranes, including a helideck) were installed at the quayside of Baku Shipyard. All the ship’s systems, equipment and facilities have been fully integrated, commissioned and adjusted. Trials in the open sea were successfully completed within two months.
Khankendi was launched in Baku on Sept. 6, 2017 in a ceremony with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev.
President Aliyev referred to the commissioning of Khankendi as a “truly historic event.” He said: “This vessel is named Khankendi. And this has a great meaning. Khankendi is our ancient city. The name of Khankendi is native and dear to us. It is no coincidence that this vessel, which meets unique global standards, has been named as such.” He also said that Khankendi was one of only ten similar vessels in the world; another reason to feel proud for Azerbaijan and Baku Shipyard.
Khankendi: A new era
5,774,491 working hours were spent on the construction of the “Khankendi” vessel and more than 2,000 employees were employed, of which 75% were local, and 25% were foreign experts.
This unique vessel was built under the classification of DNV GL (Norway and Germany), has a maximum speed of 13.5 knots, 155 meters in length, 32 meters in width, maximum 7.5 meters in water and 13 meters in height. The ship has a dynamic positioning system to operate at 3.5-meter-high waves (Hs), 900 MT main crane for subsea operations up to 600 meters, twin bell 18 men system, two remotely operated vehicle, diving moonpools, 2 engine rooms equipped with 6 pieces of 4.4 MVt and two pieces of 3.2 MVt generators. Its total weight is 17700 tonnes and its capacity is over 5000 metric tonnes, with a water injection capacity of 6.5 meters.
“Khankendi” vessel marks the beginning of a new era not only in the history of Azerbaijan, but also in the history of Caspian shipping industry. The Caspian Sea’s most up-to-date vessel of the oil and gas fleet ,“Khankendi,” was designed to build world-class submarine structures for the first time in the Caspian Sea at depths of up to 550 meters.
After delivery, the vessel will be mobilized for the second phase of development of the Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, which is located about 70 km off the coast.
More about Baku Shipyard
Baku Shipyard has completed more than 80 ship-repair projects. Some of these projects include the diving support vessel “Tofiq Ismayilov”, which is older than 25-years-old. The vessel was fully upgraded at Baku Shipyard for the full use of its capabilities. Another such project was the pipe lay barge “Israfil Huseynov” – one of the largest barges on the Caspian Sea; and the derrick barge “Azerbaijan” within the framework of the second stage of development of a large gas field Shah Deniz in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
At the moment about 1000 are employed at Baku Shipyard. Ninety percent of the employees are locals while the remaining are foreign nationals.
