€200 million contract for the expansion of the Versalis plant in Italy

Saipem has been awarded an E&C onshore engineering, procurement and construction contract for the expansion of the Versalis plant in Ferrara, Italy, worth approximately €200 million.

The project encompasses the construction of a fourth production line to operate alongside the three existing lines, in addition to increasing their production capacity and upgrading the plant’s  auxiliary systems. The project will enable the Ferrara site’s production capacity of EP[D]M (Ethylene Propylene [Diene] Monomer) rubber to be significantly increased up to 130 thousand tons per year.

Saipem will take charge of the project management, detailed engineering, the supply of materials and components, construction, installation and of the pre-commissioning activities.

The expansion works will be completed by the second quarter of 2016. … Continue Reading

Wärtsilä enters Paraguayan market with delivery of an integrated propulsion solution for new river vessel

A new, high quality, pushboat used to push barges convoys along the Paraguay River, will be powered by a Wärtsilä integrated propulsion solution. The vessel is being built at the “Astillero la Barca del Pescador” (Shipyard SA) yard in Paraguay on behalf of Naviera Yeruti, a Paraguayan company with extensive barge construction and vessel operating interests. This new vessel will be the company’s first pushboat and it is scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 2015. The contract with Shipyard SA was signed in December 2013 and Wärtsilä’s equipment will be delivered in the third quarter of 2014.

The integrated Wärtsilä engine and propulsion system includes three 8-cylinder in-lineWärtsilä 20 engines, three fixed pitch propellers, three gearboxes, three shaft lines including the shafting, seals and bearings, and the propulsion control system. Paraguay Parana River system is extensively used to transport goods, notably iron ore, soya beans and soya oil, to the coast.

“The primary target of the owners was to ensure a high level of reliability in its operations. … Continue Reading

IMO and Bangladesh announce major collaboration to improve ship-recycling standards

Saipem to lay first line of South Stream offshore gas pipeline

Today in Amsterdam (Netherlands) Oleg Aksyutin, Chief Executive Officer of South Stream Transport B.V. and Stefano Bianchi, Senior Vice President of Saipem entered into contracts for constructing the first of the four offshore lines of the South Stream gas pipeline.

According to the signed contracts worth around EUR 2 billion, Saipem will generate the project documentation, build the first offshore line of the South Stream gas pipeline as well as erect process facilities in the shore crossing areas as well as construct the landfalls.

Pipes will be welded together on board a special pipe-laying vessel and then laid in a proper position on the seabed at a depth of up to 2,200 meters. The South Stream gas pipeline will be laid by two pipe-laying vessels of Saipem: Castoro Sei, an S-lay vessel suitable for both shallow and deep waters and Saipem 7000, a J-lay vessel that constructed the Blue Stream gas pipeline in the Black Sea in the early 2000s. … Continue Reading