The giants of the sea 

In April 2005, the first sections of pipe were laid on the seabed. The pipelay vessel LB200 commenced the laying of 44 inch pipes at the Sleipner platform in the North Sea and southwards to Easington.
 
In Easington, the landfall had to be carefully prepared. The coastline in this part of England is an ecologically vulnerable area. The unstable cliffs and unusually high erosion are claiming one to two meters of coastline every year, making pipelaying extremely demanding.

Therefore the engineers built a 400 meter long tunnel under the cliffs at the shore’s edge, stretching from a tentacular dam in the beach area into the reception terminal. The aim was to create a stable solution that will last for the next fifty years. Next, the area was completely rehabilitated. Today you will not see a single trace of the construction work as you stroll along the beach.
 
The trenching itself in the waters was carried out by the world’s largest dredger JFJ de Nul. The dredging work began a kilometer from the coast, because the development team assumed that the sea currents would transport sand and refill the trenches, unless the pipes were quickly laid to rest. 500 meters from the shore, where the sea began to get shallower, the flat-bottomed barge Tog Mor had to take over the pipelaying from LB200. A huge winch then pulled the pipeline the final leg up onto land. The pipeline had reached its final destination.
 
The work in Easington also posed other problems. The area has long been utilized by the local population for catching fish and crabs. However, nets and fishing tackle can damage the pipeline.

Solitaire in action near Nyhamna.

This meant that it was important to collaborate with the local fishermen to find alternatives to fishing in the affected zone. Through thorough negotiations the parties came up with a solution that suited the local fishermen well, while

ensuring that the gas was truly able to flow in peace along the seabed, without danger of damaging the pipes.
 
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n the summer of 2005, one of the world’s largest pipelay vessels, Solitaire, commenced the task at Nyhamna. A solid moulded winch with a tractive pull of 300 tonnes hauled the pipe from Solitaire, which was stationed out in the fjord, into the site where the processing plant stands today. Solitaire then began laying the pipeline southwards. It was a huge task.
 

 
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