HB Rentals Engineers a Tight Squeeze on GOM's Bullwinkle Platform

Offshore accommodation specialist, HB Rentals, a Superior Energy Services (NYSE: SPN) company, announces the installation of a 42 POB offshore temporary living quarters project in Green Canyon Block 65 A, Gulf of Mexico. The project is in support of Wild Well Control and is installed on the Bullwinkle platform, which is co-owned by Wild Well Control, a Superior Energy Services Company, and Fieldwood Energy Offshore LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fieldwood Energy LLC with Fieldwood serving as the Operator of the Property. Project scope of work includes three sleeper cabins, one bath-office-sleeper cabin, a rec room and utility room, platforms, stairways, sewage treatment, VSAT communications, TV/Satellite receivers and a custom engineered spanner frame to marry up a fiberglass building to a steel building.

The TLQ installation supports plugging and abandonment work in the gradual decommissioning of the Bullwinkle platform. Installed in 1988, at 1353 feet of water, the Bullwinkle is the deepest fixed-leg production platform on the Outer Continental Shelf. The offshore accommodation cabins were transported to the Bullwinkle by a work boat. The entire operation of logistics support, installation and commissioning was handled by HB’s offshore project management team, with commissioning completed in late November.

“Our biggest challenge in supporting this project was the space limitation. We believe this was the tightest offshore installation – vessel or platform – in HB’s almost 30 years of supporting the offshore market,” said James Osburn, Project Manager. Per David Judice, Engineering & Regulatory Compliance Manager, “we had to configure the offshore accommodation cabins in such a way to clear the crane, provide adequate egress space on all sides, accommodate the existing steel building and transfer support loads to hard points on the deck. Once we attempted several options and configurations, it was apparent we would have to stack 2 units on top of the steel building, connected to an adjacent stack of three units. However the steel building was smaller in plan and elevation than the fiberglass units, so supports and walkways did not line up. Thus, a skid was designed to bridge the distances vertically and horizontally. Once locked into location, we had to look at how the storm wind forces transferred from the fiberglass units to the steel building on one side and the deck foundation on the other. So we added deck reinforcement as well as horizontal restraint beams from one stack to the other to tie everything together. Stairs and walkways had to be custom configured as well to accommodate adequate egress from the buildings.”