Diving support for the construction of the Prirazlomnaya platform at Shipyard No. 35, Murmansk
Diving support for the construction of the Prirazlomnaya offshore ice-resistant platform — Russia's first Arctic oil production platform. The platform was built in Murmansk at Shipyard No. 35; our diving spread carried out the underwater engineering work and hull inspections during the launch and the afloat completion.
68.990° N, 33.100° E
- Site
- Prirazlomnaya platform, construction at Shipyard No. 35, Murmansk
- Scope
- diving support for construction and afloat completion work on the platform
- Format
- a fully equipped diving spread with crew stationed at the client's site
The task
The Prirazlomnaya platform is Russia's first Arctic oil production platform. One stage of its construction took place in Murmansk at Shipyard No. 35, and throughout that stage the builders needed the underwater side of the work: what happens below the waterline of a giant caisson can neither be seen nor done without divers.
For projects like this, one-off call-outs do not work — what is needed is a spread permanently on site and built into the main contractor's schedule. PKF Bolid provided a fully equipped diving spread with a certified crew as a dive support service: crew, gear, compressors and equipment, turnkey, right at the site.
What the divers did on site
- Underwater engineering work during the launch of the platform — the most critical moment, when the hull meets the water for the first time.
- Inspections and video surveys of the caisson hull and structures below the waterline, on request from the builders throughout the afloat completion stage.
- Underwater work on request from the main contractor during the completion works.
- Standby dive cover — readiness to dive immediately in the event of an incident in the water area.
How a spread works on a long-running site
- 1
The spread lives on site
Crew and gear are stationed on the site and work to the construction schedule rather than to call-outs. The client gets underwater work on demand — without mobilising for every single dive.
- 2
Built into the client's processes
The spread coordinates dives with the yard's and the main contractor's services: permits to work, simultaneous operations, site access regime. Experience of that kind of coordination is a competence in its own right, and it cannot be acquired on one-off jobs.
- 3
Documentation
Every dive is documented by the spread: diving logs, photo and video reports, certificates. On oil and gas projects the paperwork is not a formality — it is part of the result.
The outcome
The underwater side of the construction and completion works was covered by the PKF Bolid spread — from the launch of the platform to the afloat completion. Taking part in a project of that scale is the company's principal reference: if a spread was trusted with work on the country's first Arctic production platform, it can meet the requirements of any other client. Today that experience is the foundation of our dive support service: a crewed spread for industrial projects across the Arctic.
How the work went — shots from site
Need a diving spread at your site — for a week, a month or the whole project? We will provide a fully equipped spread with crew.
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