Solitaire (ship)

For other ships, see HMS Solitaire.

Solitaire is a large deep-sea pipe laying ship. It was at the time of conversion the world's largest pipe-laying ship at 300 metres (984 ft) long (excluding pipe-laying apparatus)^[3] and 96,000 tonnes (94,000 long tons; 106,000 short tons).^[4] When fully operational she has a crew of 420,^[4] a pipe carrying capacity of 22,000 tonnes and a pipe lay speed of more than 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) a day.^[5] The ship is owned by the Allseas Group, a Dutch pipelaying and marine construction firm with their headquarters in Switzerland.^[6]

Solitaire, one of the largest pipe-laying ships in the world
History
Name	Trentwood Solitaire
Owner	Allseas Group
Port of registry	-2015: Panama,  Panama 2015 onwards: Valletta,  Malta[1]
Builder	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hiroshima, Japan
Yard number	223
Launched	17 December 1971[2]
Completed	1972
Identification	IMO number: 7129049 MMSI number: 249118000 Callsign: 9HA4114[1]
Status	In service
General characteristics
Tonnage	59193 DWT: 129479[2]
Length	300 m (984 ft)
Beam	40.6 m (133.2 ft)[2]
Draught	17.62 m
Depth	24.00 m
Propulsion	8x Wartsila 6R46B , 51.50 MW
Speed	14.5 kn[2]
Crew	420

History

The ship was initially built in 1972 as a bulk carrier and launched as Trentwood by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at their shipyard in Hiroshima, Japan.^[2]

In 1992, Allseas acquired Trentwood for conversion into a pipelaying vessel. Allseas awarded the conversion contract to Sembawang Shipyards in Singapore on a lump sum basis; however, the contract was terminated in 1995. The ship was subsequently converted at the Swan Hunter yard on Tyneside, United Kingdom.^[7] Solitaire laid her first pipe on Statoil's Europipe project in 1999.^[8]

Allseas and Sembcorp reached a settlement for the Solitaire arbitration in 2006.^[9]

In 2006, while working on the Atwater Valley and Independence Trail projects in the Gulf of Mexico, Solitaire set new depth records, laying 10-inch pipeline in a water depth of 2,775 metres (9,104 ft) and 24-inch pipeline in a water depth of 2,550 metres (8,370 ft).^[10]

Among other ships, Solitaire laid the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea in 2019—2020.^[11]