24 sets of 2,000-meter-class international ultra-deep-water suction anchors for offshore oil engineering have been delivered in Zhuhai, Guangdong

Thread Content

On July 13, Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. (referred to as “OOEC”) announced that the 24 sets of 2,000-meter-class international ultra-deep-water suction anchors it had constructed were all delivered and shipped from Zhuhai, Guangdong. These suction anchors will be used in the second phase of the Mero project, a giant subsea ultra-deep-water oil field in Brazil, marking further recognition by the international mainstream market of China’s capabilities in manufacturing ultra-deep-water marine equipment. The suction anchor is a key piece of equipment in ocean engineering; it operates on the principle of negative pressure, adhering firmly to the seabed mud like a large suction cup, thereby enabling the efficient fixation of marine structures. It is regarded as the \"cornerstone\" for deep-sea energy development. Suction anchors offer significant advantages such as efficient installation, recyclability, and high load-bearing capacity, and are widely used in deep-water oil and gas fields, offshore wind power, and other fields. According to Wang Tengfei, the project manager for the construction of the Mero Phase II suction anchors at CNOOC Engineering, the maximum water depth in the area where the equipment is installed is over 2,000 meters. This makes it the deepest-water suction anchor project of its kind ever undertaken in China. CNOOC Engineering’s Zhuhai Deep-Sea Equipment Manufacturing Base is responsible for the processing and design, material procurement, construction, testing, and shipment of all 24 suction anchors, with a total structural weight of approximately 2,674 tons. The largest unit of the Mero Phase II suction anchor reaches 21 meters in height and 8 meters in diameter, with a wall thickness of only 25 millimeters; it is a typical thin-walled, large-diameter cylindrical structure that poses significant challenges for its construction. Through technical innovation, the project team developed in China a unique construction method for horizontally extending and vertically assembling ultra-deep-water suction anchors. They adopted innovative assembly techniques such as \"rotating the cylinder before lifting it\", made extensive use of advanced technologies like 3D scanning and finite element simulation testing, and designed construction equipment such as the \"cross-shaped support fixture\" on their own. These efforts enabled them to overcome various technical challenges related to precision control of extremely large diameters and deformation control of ultra-thin wall thicknesses, resulting in a quality compliance rate of over 99.9% with a precision deviation of no more than 1 millimeter per meter – standards that are at the forefront of the industry. In recent years, CNOOC Engineering has continued to focus on advancing key core technologies for deep-water oil and gas equipment. It has successfully developed a range of domestic deep-water oil and gas facilities, including the world’s first 100,000-ton semi-submersible production and storage platform, the “Deep Sea No.1” energy station; Asia’s deepest jacketed platform, the “Haiji No.2”; and Asia’s first cylindrical FPSO, the “Sea Anemone No.1”. It has also delivered a number of international deep-water oil and gas facilities, such as the 350,000-ton super-large FPSOs P67/P70 for Brazil, as well as Penguin-type cylindrical FPSOs. These achievements have helped to enhance the reputation of “Made in China” in the international deep-water oil and gas equipment market, contributing positively to high-level international cooperation in ocean energy development and to energy exploration along relevant routes. (