APRIL 10, 2013—The world’s largest pipelay vessel—more than three American football fields long—will be  coming to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and offshore Brazil.

Owned by Italy’s Saipem, the M/V Castorone currently is  contracted for work on three projects in the Gulf of  Mexico: Amberjack Pipeline’s 219-km-long Walker Ridge  export pipeline; Enbridge’s 60-km-long Big Foot lateral  export pipeline; and the 350-km-long Keathley Canyon gas  export pipeline.

Following completion of that work, the Castorone will  move to the Santos Basin offshore Brazil to lay Petrobras’  Tupi NE-Cabiunas 380-km-long trunkline in depths to  2,230 m.

Classification society ABS reports in its Energy News that  Saipem’s MV Castorone is designed for installation of  large-diameter pipe in deep and ultra-deep water as well as  extreme environments, including the Arctic.

The Castorone is classed by ABS as +A1, (E), +AMS,  +ACCU, +TCM, CRC, HELIDK, UWILD, ICE CLASS  A0 + BALTIC, ICE 1A, +DP-3. The vessel has a length of  330 meters (excluding its ramp/stinger) and breadth of 39  meters, with a displacement of 100,000 tons at maximum  operational draft of 10 meters.

The Castorone can S-lay pipes up to 60 inches in diameter,  prefabricating pipe strings 36 m long with the capability of
joining 2 by 18-m-long pipes as an alternative to 3 by 12 m  conventional joints. The vessel will be equipped for the
future addition of a fixed tower for ”J” laying pipe. The  stinger is specifically designed for any pipe diameter and  water depth through continuous control of the overbend  stresses in the pipe.