ABS Approves GMS Self-Elevating Drilling Unit Design
ABS approved the design and certified the GMS cantilever system for its self-elevating support vessel (SESV) GMS Evolution delivered in May 2017.
As an industry first, GMS Evolution is fitted with a small, removable skidding cantilever system, installed with a well Work Over Unit (WOU) designed in partnership with Dwellop. The novel, removable cantilever system provides an efficient and versatile vessel for well services, according to GMS.
This innovative combination of a self-propelled jack-up with a removable cantilever and WOU is not only the first to achieve ABS SEU certification, but also the first mobile offshore drilling unit of its kind in the industry and represents a state-of-the-art tool for well intervention. In addition to the WOU, which can be skidded over a platform or subsea well, GMS Evolution has a self-propelled speed of more than 8 knots, DP2 positioning, accommodation for 150 personnel and multi cranes including one with 200t capacity.
“Our new cantilever system will give clients a range of options in the way they use our barges to service their offshore assets. This system offers cost-effective solutions for work that has traditionally been performed by more expensive non-propelled drilling rigs,” says GMS CEO Duncan Anderson.
GMS, based in Abu Dhabi, builds and operates its own fleet and has 14 SESVs, all of which are classed by ABS. GMS Evolution was last in a series of seven DP2 GUSTO designs.