Northern exposure

The LNG plant in Hammerfest, Norway is the first natural gas liquefaction and export plant of its kind in Europe. Huge volumes of natural gas from the Snøhvit project in the Arctic's Barents Sea will flow through the $11.3 billion construction project. Work began in 2003 and the site was scheduled for ordinary production by late 2007. Norwegian crane services company Vest Kran has been involved with a range of lifting applications on the arctic island since the start of the project.

Patrick Floreal is superintendent at Fabricom, a company that assembles prefabricated modules for the oil and gas industry. It is part of the part of the Suez group. Floreal, a Belgian, explains how the construction of the LNG plant presented unusual difficulties and challenges.

“The weather conditions have been very tough and have caused a lot of problems. We quickly learned to take caution concerning the elements here in the Arctic. Every outdoor activity – especially lifting – had to be carefully considered.

“In December it is constantly dark. In the middle of the day it is hard to read a newspaper without electrical light; if you can even hold the paper, of course. The cold is not too bad here because of the Gulf Stream, but the wind is.”

Floreal has been at the project for two years and recounts a big winter storm last year, which, he says, he will remember for the rest of his life. “It was cold, snowing and the wind was very strong. Spray from the seawater had blown over the plant and soon everything was covered in thick ice. The entire island was evacuated. Everything stopped for many days.”

Vest Kran has been on the island since the project started in 2003 and has been involved in almost every step of the construction process. One of the jobs involved hoisting concrete sections for the administration building, which sounds relatively straightforward but, as Floreal explains, the unpredictable weather conditions were a challenge. Toward the end of the project, the most typical lifting jobs were hoisting equipment and lifting personnel to inspect the construction work.

Fredrik Hoddø, who operates a Demag AC 80-2 all terrain crane at the site, describes the difficulties caused by the weather. “We can experience all four seasons in one day here. The weather changes so quickly it is hard to believe. Every job we are planning to do has to be analyzed for safety. As a crane operator I need to know how to react if the wind rapidly increases in the middle of the lifting operation. The plant is filled with gas now so we have to know what to do if the hoist has to be cancelled mid-air. I need to know where to land the cargo safely.”

As if life was not difficult enough, the hydrocarbons contained in the plant's pipes and tanks means the crane's diesel-powered cabin heater cannot be used.

“After a few hours in the icy wind it gets pretty cold, even though I'm sitting inside the cabin wearing my heavy parka. Imagine the men outdoors when they are hanging in the man basket directly exposed to the elements. That'a a cold job”

Due to the environment, the owner of the Snøhvit plant, Statoil, does not use salt to melt snow and ice from the roads, instead it uses sand to secure the slippery roads on the island. Therefore, the use of protective eyewear is mandatory.

Floreal says the project had been a valuable learning experience for all concerned. “The safety aspect has grown in strength and is the base of all operations here. As constructors on the site we have to have safe job analyses on practically all jobs. Because the climate is so extreme here and the weather can – and will – change in a matter of minutes, we have to know every possible aspect of the jobs,” he adds.