Ain Sokhna Product Hub

BESIX’s pride jack-up barges, along with other equipment from our fleet as well as externally rented equipment, were mobilized quickly from Saudi Arabia and our Marine Base in Ajman (UAE). They progressed with driving of the first of the 420 piles at record speed, in order to allow the FSRU vessel to berth. As part of a variation order, the works included all mechanical and electrical works to make this achievement possible, such as firefighting systems, a control building, CCTV, lighting and all the power supply.

The fast track nature of the project combined with the additional M&E works represented a major challenge in terms of timely design, procurement and construction. On the other hand, completing the remaining part of the trestle and the second berth whilst live gas supply and regasification was ongoing, had its own constraints and difficulties.

It only took 5.5 months to deliver a fully operational first berth, counting from the first pile being driven until completion including all M&E works and commissioning. For this, 221 piles were driven in 126 days. To accomplish these works in the required timeframe, 3 jackups have been mobilized. In addition, 3 crane barges, 7 supply barges and 7 tugboats are on site to carry out support and ancillary tasks.

The first 500 metres of the jetty were originally designed as a rock dumped causeway. Due to liquefaction issues encountered during the soil investigation, this was changed last minute to a piled jetty. For methods reasons, a bored piled option was chosen using 1.5 metre diameter piles.