Saipem 7000 crane vessel accident kills three
18 September 2008An accident on the Saipem 7000 crane and pipelay vessel working in the Mediterranean Sea has killed three people. One is missing and four more are injured, according to a statement from Italian contractor Saipem, a 43% subsidiary of Italian energy firm Eni.
The accident was due to a crane failure, according to a statement from customer MEDGAZ, reported by newswire Agence France-Presse. A Saipem spokesman could not confirm this, but only said that the accident occurred during pipelay operations.
The MEDGAZ statement did not give any more details, but said that there was no explosion, according to the Agence France-Presse report. It also reported that the MEDGAZ statement said that all but one of the injured workers were Saipem employees.
The vessel was laying pipe on the MEDGAZ trans-Mediterranean pipeline in international waters between Algeria and Spain.
The Saipem 7000 started work on a 120km deepwater section of the pipelay operation in mid-August, starting from Spain, according to MEDGAZ. About 450 people were expected to work on the vessel during the construction project.
The J-lay pipelaying operation is named after the shape the pipe makes during the laying operation. It relies on cranes to supply pipe sections to a tray that feeds a welding tower. A video of the J-lay operation shows the resupply operation occurring in two stages. First, one of the vessel's two large cranes (capacities: 7,000t/2.500t/900t) lift pipe sections off a supply boat and on to the deck. Then a pair of small crawler cranes on deck raise the pipe sections into a tray.
MEDGAZ is a consortium of SONATRACH, CEPSA, IBERDROLA, ENDESA and GDF SUEZ. The 210km (130mi) line links Almeria, Spain and Beni Saf, Algeria.
