Q4000
{{short description|Oil field service vessel}}
| {{Infobox ship begin |display title=ital}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = Helix Q4000.jpg | Ship caption = Drilling vessel Helix Q4000 at sea in the Gulf of Mexico. }} {{Infobox ship career | Ship name = Q4000 | Ship owner = Cal Dive Title XI, Inc. | Ship operator = Helix Energy Solutions Group | Ship registry = {{USA}}, Houston, Texas | Ship ordered = 1999 | Ship builder =*Keppel AmFELS | Ship designer = SDP/McClure | Ship original cost = {{US$|156 million}} | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = 18 December 1999 | Ship launched = | Ship completed = 07 March 2002 | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship identification =*ABS class no.: 0239326 | Ship status = Operational | Ship notes = {{cite web | title=ABS Record: Q4000 | url=http://www.eagle.org/safenet/record/record_vesseldetailsprinparticular?Classno=0239326| publisher=American Bureau of Shipping | year=2010 | access-date=4 June 2010}}{{cite ship register |register=DNV |id=24342 |shipname=Q4000 |access-date=8 June 2010 }} }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class =*American Bureau of Shipping
| Ship tonnage = {{GT|14,802}} | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|95.2|m|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|62.8|m|abbr=on}} | Ship height = | Ship draught = | Ship draft = | Ship depth = {{convert|29.6|m|abbr=on}} | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = {{convert|9436|mm|abbr=on}} | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = | Ship speed = 12 kts | Ship capacity = | Ship crew = 133 }} |
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.{{cite web| title=Cal Dive takes delivery of Q4000 | url=http://www.oilpubs.com/oso/article.asp?v1=2975 | work=Offshore Shipping Online | date=12 April 2002 | access-date=7 June 2010}} She is operated by Helix Energy Solutions Group.{{cite news | author=Noah Brenner; Anthea Pitt | title=BP calls in FPSO for Macondo | url=http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article217033.ece | work=Upstream Online | date=28 May 2010 | access-date=7 June 2010}} 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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bennettoffshore.com/semis.html |title=Basic and detailed design of the Q4000 |access-date=2016-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411213641/http://www.bennettoffshore.com/semis.html |archive-date=2016-04-11 |url-status=dead }}
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:{{cite journal | title=Q4000 | publisher=Helix Well Ops | url=http://www.helixesg.com/Portals/0/PDFs/WellOps/Q4000.pdf | date=9 September 2008| access-date=7 June 2010}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
- Dynamic positioning with 6 azimuthing thrusters
- A multi-purpose Huisman designed three-sided tower capable of fulfilling all traditional derrick roles
- Two Huisman cranes with lifting capacities of 160 and 360 Tonnes
- Seabed access to 3048 meters
- An 11.9 meter x 6.4 meter moonpool
- A 7 3/8 inch intervention riser system (The vessel was refitted with a slimbore drilling capability in 2008).
- A 3000-meter heavy weather ROV system
- An overall deck capacity of 4,000 tonnes
''Deepwater Horizon'' spill response
File:Q4000 and Discoverer Enterprise flares.jpg 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.BP Subsea operational update Sept 5, 2010: {{cite web|url=http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId%3D9034427%26contentId%3D7063885 |title=Making it right - highlights | Gulf of Mexico response | BP |access-date=September 6, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911105949/http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9034427&contentId=7063885 |archive-date=September 11, 2010 }} The failed Deepwater Horizon BOP was collected as key evidence into the investigation of the causes of the oil spill.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.vesseltracker.com/en/Ships/Q4000-876712300.html?show=position Q4000 current position] at VesselTracker
{{Deepwater}}