Q4000

Last updated
Helix Q4000.jpg
Drilling vessel Helix Q4000 at sea in the Gulf of Mexico.
History
NameQ4000
OwnerCal Dive Title XI, Inc.
Operator Helix Energy Solutions Group
Port of registryFlag of the United States.svg  United States, Houston, Texas
Ordered1999
Builder
CostUS$156 million
Laid down18 December 1999
Completed07 March 2002
Identification
StatusOperational
Notes [1] [2]
General characteristics
Class and type
Tonnage14,802  GT
Length95.2 m (312 ft)
Beam62.8 m (206 ft)
Depth29.6 m (97 ft)
Deck clearance9,436 mm (371.5 in)
Speed12 kts
Crew133
Notes [1]

Q4000 is a multi-purpose oil field construction and intervention vessel ordered in 1999 by Cal Dive International, and was built at the Keppel AmFELS shipyard in Brownsville, Texas for $180 million. She was delivered in 2002 and operates under the flag of the United States. [3] She is operated by Helix Energy Solutions Group. [4] The original Q4000 concept was conceived and is owned by SPD/McClure. The design was later modified by Bennett Offshore, which was selected to develop both the basic and detailed design. [5]

Contents

Q4000 has a column-stabilized semisubmersible design that combines dynamically positioned station-keeping with a large deck space, significant deck load capacity and a high transit speed of 12 knots. The vessel provides a stable platform for a wide variety of tasks, including subsea completion, decommissioning and coiled tubing deployment, and she is specifically designed for oil well intervention and construction in depths of up to 3000 meters of water.

Specifications

The design of the Q4000 includes the following features: [6]

Deepwater Horizon spill response

Q4000 and Discoverer Enterprise flare off gas at the site of drilling operations at the Deepwater Horizon response site in the Gulf of Mexico at night 8 July 2010. Q4000 and Discoverer Enterprise flares.jpg
Q4000 and Discoverer Enterprise flare off gas at the site of drilling operations at the Deepwater Horizon response site in the Gulf of Mexico at night 8 July 2010.

Q4000 was in the Gulf of Mexico participating in the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The vessel was used to position the large containment dome and also to attempt the "top kill" in which large quantities of drilling mud were pumped down the Q4000 drilling pipe into the failed Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer valve (BOP) in an attempt to stop the flow of oil. Both attempts failed to stop the oil leaking from the well. After removal of the failed riser and drill pipe on the Horizon BOP, a capping stack sealed the top of the well on July 15, 2010, stopping the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The Q4000 was used in a successful static kill procedure, where mud, followed by cement, was pumped into the well, sealing the leak at the source. The Deepwater Horizon BOP was secured on the deck of the Q4000 around 10:20pm on September 4, 2010. [7] The failed Deepwater Horizon BOP was collected as key evidence into the investigation of the causes of the oil spill.

Related Research Articles

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<i>Deepwater Horizon</i> Former offshore oil drilling rig

Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig owned by Transocean and operated by BP. On 20 April 2010, while drilling at the Macondo Prospect, a blowout caused an explosion on the rig that killed 11 crewmen and ignited a fireball visible from 40 miles (64 km) away. The fire was inextinguishable and, two days later, on 22 April, the Horizon sank, leaving the well gushing at the seabed and causing the largest marine oil spill in history.

Deepwater Millennium was a fifth generation Samsung/Reading & Bates designed, dynamic positioned (DP) Marshall Islands-flagged drillship owned by Transocean. The vessel was capable of drilling in water depths up to 8,100 ft using an 18.75 in (47.6 cm), 15,000 psi blowout preventer (BOP), and a 21 in (53 cm) outside diameter (OD) marine riser. It was retired in 2018.

Deepwater drilling, or deep well drilling, is the process of creating holes in the Earth's crust using a drilling rig for oil extraction under the deep sea. There are approximately 3400 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico with depths greater than 150 meters.

FPSO <i>Noble Seillean</i>

The FPSO Noble Seillean was a dynamically positioned floating oil production, storage and offloading vessel.

<i>Deepwater Horizon</i> oil spill Oil spill that began in April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered to be the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and estimated to be 8 to 31 percent larger in volume than the previous largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill, also in the Gulf of Mexico. The United States federal government estimated the total discharge at 4,900 Mbbl. After several failed efforts to contain the flow, the well was declared sealed on 19 September 2010. Reports in early 2012 indicated that the well site was still leaking. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is regarded as one of the largest environmental disasters in world history.

The Macondo Prospect is an oil and gas prospect in the United States Exclusive Economic Zone of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. The prospect was the site of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in April 2010 that led to a major oil spill in the region from the first exploration well, named itself MC252-1, which had been designed to investigate the existence of the prospect.

<i>Deepwater Horizon</i> explosion 2010 oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion was an April 20, 2010 explosion and subsequent fire on the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit, which was owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP in the Macondo Prospect oil field about 40 miles (64 km) southeast off the Louisiana coast. The explosion and subsequent fire resulted in the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon and the deaths of 11 workers; 17 others were injured. The same blowout that caused the explosion also caused an oil well fire and a massive offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world, and the largest environmental disaster in United States history.

The following is a timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It was a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest offshore spill in U.S. history. It was a result of the well blowout that began with the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion on April 20, 2010.

<i>Discoverer Enterprise</i>

Discoverer Enterprise is a fifth generation deepwater double hulled dynamically positioned drillship owned and operated by Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc., capable of operating in moderate environments and water depths up to 3,049 m (10,000 ft) using an 18.75 in (47.6 cm), 15,000 psi blowout preventer (BOP), and a 21 in (53 cm) outside diameter (OD) marine riser. From 1998 to 2005 the vessel was Panama-flagged and currently flies the flag of convenience of the Marshall Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helix Energy Solutions Group</span> Provider of offshore services and ROV operations

Helix Energy Solutions Inc., known as Cal Dive International prior to 2006, is an American oil and gas services company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company is a global provider of offshore services in well intervention and ROV operations of new and existing oil and gas fields.

<i>Helix Producer 1</i>

Helix Producer I is a ship-shaped monohull floating production and offloading vessel, converted from the ferry MV Karl Carstens. It has no storage capability.

Following is a timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for June 2010.

Following is a timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for July 2010.

Following is a Timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for May 2010.

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The Helix fast-response system (HFRS) is a deep-sea oil spill response plan licensed by HWCG LLC, a consortium of 16 independent oil companies, to respond to subsea well incidents. Helix Energy Solutions Group designed the Helix fast-response system based on techniques used to contain the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. On February 28, 2011 the drilling moratorium imposed as a result of the spill ended when the United States Department of the Interior approved the first drilling permit based on the availability of the HFRS to offshore oil companies.

The Deepwater Horizon investigation included several investigations and commissions, among others reports by National Incident Commander Thad Allen, United States Coast Guard, National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, National Academy of Engineering, National Research Council, Government Accountability Office, National Oil Spill Commission, and Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.

Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) provides well containment equipment and technology in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico for use after blowouts. It is based in Houston, Texas. MWCC members are major companies in the petroleum industry that drill wells in the Gulf of Mexico including: BP, Shell Oil, ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation and ConocoPhillips.

HWCG LLC is a not-for-profit consortium of deepwater oil and gas companies. HWCG maintains a comprehensive deepwater well containment response model that can be activated immediately in the event of a US Gulf of Mexico subsea blowout. It comprises oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf and incorporates the consortium’s generic well containment plan. HWCG has a healthy mutual aid component whereby HWCG members will respond and support another member’s incident.

References

  1. 1 2 "ABS Record: Q4000". American Bureau of Shipping. 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
  2. ↑ "Q4000 (24342)". DNV Vessel Register. DNV . Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  3. ↑ "Cal Dive takes delivery of Q4000". Offshore Shipping Online. 12 April 2002. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  4. ↑ Noah Brenner; Anthea Pitt (28 May 2010). "BP calls in FPSO for Macondo". Upstream Online. Retrieved 7 June 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ "Basic and detailed design of the Q4000". Archived from the original on 2016-04-11. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  6. ↑ "Q4000" (PDF). Helix Well Ops. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2010.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)[ dead link ]
  7. ↑ BP Subsea operational update Sept 5, 2010: "Making it right - highlights | Gulf of Mexico response | BP". Archived from the original on September 11, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
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