BLR Companies of Rayne, Louisiana is used its new Link-Belt 108 H5 on a barge for a drilling platform restoration project in Vermillion Bay south of Intercoastal City, Louisiana.
“It’s a multi-functional crane, small with exceptional weight and balance,” says Jackie Duplechain, marine superintendent for BLR Companies.
The Link-Belt 108 H5 is a 50t capacity crane, the smallest in Link-Belt’s product range. However, BLR purchased the optional extra counterweight package to raise the rating to 60t.
The crane was used to recover objects both on the platform and underwater that had been blown off or washed overboard by the storms.
BLR Companies is a loose confederation of oilfield service companies whose services range from turnkey oil well site location installations to salvage and recovery operations. “BLR does just about everything in the oil patch except drill the actual well itself,” says Maxim Doucet, president of BLR Companies.
He added: “Almost as soon as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had left the area, we had barges with cranes on them to assist in the severely impacted recovery area. Extracting damaged or broken piling and driving new ones was both essential and time critical, as were the recovery and restoration of the production platform. The oil companies were adamant about resuming oil and natural gas production.”
