World’s heaviest vessel completes first commercial lift under Maltese flag

The world's heaviest vessel by displacement, the specialised platform decommissioning and installation ship Pioneering Spirit, completed its first commercial lift under the flag of Malta.

Pioneering Spirit, completed its first heavy lift 100km off the coast of Norway on Monday with the removal of the topsides on Repsol Norge's Yme jack-up facility.

The oil platform was the first one of this size which the vessel has lifted out of water, according to Transport Malta.

The five-year-old Yme offshore platform has been unmanned since 2012 when it was slated for removal after then-owner Talisman found severe cracking in the cement grouting around its legs. The damage was so severe that the facility had to be evacuated. The platform never produced oil.

Before Pioneering Spirit could play its role, workers reportedly had to dismantle the platform, module by module.  

Transport Malta described the Pioneering Spirit as one of the world’s biggest ships, at 382 metres of length and 124 metres’ width. “It is a little shy of the length of four football fields and can lift 48,000 tonnes, the weight of approximately 32,000 cars,” they said in a statement.

Pioneering Spirit reportedly has 6 special purpose cranes, space for 27,000 tonnes of pipes and a massive helipad on its deck. It is also said that it can work in any water depth, in polar regions and hostile seas.

“The vessel was built for single-lift-installation and removal of large offshore, oil and gas platforms. With its double hull, it is able to straddle a platform and lift the top part with eight sets of lifting beams,” Transport Malta added.