"Lewek Constellation" Premieres in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

"Lewek Constellation" is the name of this imposing vessel for laying oil and natural gas pipelines and supporting the offshore industry, which has been docked since yesterday at the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where it arrived on its first stop from Pointe Noire (Congo). It comes to conduct inspections, maintenance work, and crew changes, and next Monday it will continue its journey to Cyprus.

This is a Panama-flagged pipelayer with a striking appearance, featuring a monumental Huisman crane capable of lifting and positioning weights of 3,000 tons at depths of three thousand meters and six reels on deck. It has a second crane for 80 tons and other secondary cranes, along with an entire infrastructure that makes it truly spectacular. It is owned by EMAS AMC and was built at the Soffel shipyard in Vung Tau (Vietnam). It has accommodation for 239 people in single cabins and a platform at the bow for the landing of a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter.

It is a vessel of 48,786 gross tons, with a total length of 178.27 m, a beam of 46 m, a depth of 15.60 m, and a draft of 10.50 m. It is powered by eight Man electric motors that drive a set of 17 azimuth thrusters, transverse and tunnel thrusters, and boasts a respectable power of 34 Mw, allowing it to maintain a speed of 12.5 knots. It incorporates a state-of-the-art dynamic positioning system, two underwater robots (ROVs), and has a working deck of 4,200 square meters. IMO Code 9629756.

The Vietnamese shipyard delivered the vessel in 2013, and a year later, the monumental crane was installed. It premiered in the Gulf of Mexico, working for Noble Energy, where it showcased its capabilities, as it reached the maximum tension recorded in the laying of rigid rails, with 632 metric tons at a depth of 2,246 meters, as highlighted by the specialized press.

Photo: Manuel Figueroa García