Column for Statfjord B loading buoy launched

By Finn Harald Sandberg, Norwegian Petroleum Museum

The column for the Statfjord B loading buoy was launched in Hamburg on Friday 30 April 1981, with Gloria Inman as lady sponsor. She was the wife of Harald Inman, chief executive of Mobil Exploration Norway Inc.

This structure would make it possible for shuttle tankers of up to 150 000 deadweight tonnes to load crude oil from Statfjord B.

Tangen Verft in southern Norway originally won the job of building the loading buoy column, but was unable to complete the work. The structure had to be completed in West Germany, and these problems boosted its cost by about NOK 280 million.

To learn more, see: The loading buoys on Statfjord , The dispute over the loading buoy

Sources

Mobil Explorer, June 1982. “Søylen til Statfjord B lastebøyen sjøsatt”.
VG , 9 October 1982. “Aker saksøkes: kjempekrav?”