Five tugs of Smit International, including the 22,000-bhp Smit Rotterdam, and a Norwegian tug, have towed the deck for the Statfjord B production platform (shown above) from Stavanger, Norway, to the Yrkefjord, 36 miles north of Stavanger. The steel deck with the modules on top was built and assembled on four dummy columns in Stavanger. For the towing transport, the deck — 140 meters wide, 70 meters long, and 100 meters high (about 459 by 230 by 328 feet) — was placed on four barges.
Immediately after arrival in the Yrkefjord, the 40,000-ton deck was placed over and on the four concrete shafts of the structure. This structure was recently towed to the Yrkefjord.
Smit International Marine Services assisted with tugs and personnel in the positioning of the deck over the concrete columns. By deballasting the concrete structure, the deck was lifted off the barges. After further completion of the Statfjord B platform, the four-legged colossus will be towed to its final location in the North Sea next summer.