Stornes – The Biggest FallPipe Vessel in the World

Stone dumping and fallpipe vessels fulfil a very important necessity in the high seas’ constructional sector. As their name reflects, these vessels are equipped with a pipe specifically deployed to position rocks and stone debris as a protective covering over deep underwater piping and other constructional structures.

Technological systems like ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) enable the vessel operators to manoeuvre and position the flexible fallpipe to achieve precise operative results.

Similarly, the equipping of advanced DP systems in a flexible fallpipe vessel enables continuity in the vessel’s movement while on water, without disrupting its underwater processes.
Stornes: The Van Oord Fallpipe Vessel
Put into operation in the year 2011, Stornes is the biggest fallpipe ship – with a ladening capacity of about 27,000 tonnes – in the entirety of the Van Oord fallpipe vessels’ fleet.  The Dutch conglomerate is amongst the world’s leaders in its area of specialisation and with the acquiring of Stornes, the company’s operational reputation has stood to gain, and indeed gained, far more considerably.

In terms of operational servicing output, Stornes dispels the required rock and stone debris, comparatively quicker than her sister predecessors. The equipping of a transporter belt with a revolving projection ensures an automatic discharging of the required rock components at about 3,000 tonnes hourly, thus providing optimal results with the least wasting of manpower and time.
Vessel Specifications

• Built at the Chinese shipbuilding company CIMC at their Yantai shipbuilding yard, the fallpipe vessel was commissioned as early as 2006
• The stone dumping ship measures around 175 metres lengthwise with a breadth of about 26 metres and a draft of slightly over 10 metres
• The maximum underwater depths to which the vessel can be employed with successful operational results is slightly over 2,000 metres
• Stornes is equipped with a Grade Two Dynamic Positioning System and has maximum operable speeds of around 14 knots
• State-of-the-art thrusting systems and equipments form a part of the vessel’s technological outfitting including hi-tech camera systems to enable a clear view of the fallpipe’s operations for the vessel operators

A crew of about 50 people can be easily accommodated within the vessel, which has been classified by the reputed ABS (American Bureau of Shipping) Classification Society. As stone dumping and fallpipe vessels go, the construction of Stornes has helped to provide constructional advancement in a very important maritime niche.
It can also be safely presumed that the phenomenal success of the flexible fallpipe vessel will ensure several more constructional paradigms in this sector are aimed to be attained and thus achieved, in the wake of the Van Oord conglomerate’s positive tapping into the niche domain.
References
dredgingtoday, discoverychannel, rovworld
Image Credits
vanoord, photobucket

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