Baker Hughes Inc. recently provided the media with a sneak peek at the newest addition to its fleet of stimulation vessels. The StimFORCE well stimulation vessel, dedicated to the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), will provide customized, on-demand pumping, fracturing, and stimulation solutions.

The 78-m (257-ft) long vessel, which was docked at the Bordelon Marine Shipyard in Houma, La., at the time of the tour, is the company’s eighth vessel and third in the GoM. We arrived for the tour just as the crew was installing the StimFORCE stimulation system onto the M/V Connor Bordelon.

Baker Hughes has a one-year agreement with Bordelon Marine for use of its recently completed Connor Bordelon. According to the yard, the Connor Bordelon is its first Stingray 260 Class 2 Dynamic Positioning (DP) vessel. In addition to a thinner bow for increased fuel economy and speed, each of the vessel’s two propulsion chains is made up of a 2,200-hp Cummins QSK-60 Tier 3 diesel engine shafted to a Schottel 1215 Z-drive, making it possible for the Connor Bordelon to reach a top speed of 14 knots. Up to 52 crew and passengers can call the vessel home when at sea.

The StimFORCE stimulation system that is now installed on the Connor Bordelon provides a “cost-effective and operationally flexible pumping package designed for offshore and inland water pumping projects,” according to the company. The beauty of the system is in its design. Because it is modular, the arrangement of the skid-based pumping equipment can be customized to fit the needs of the client. This stimulation system can be shipped to a location and reassembled on a platform supply vessel, barge, or offshore rig. A specially engineered grid framework secures the pumping equipment to the vessel or barge, according to the company.

The vessel is equipped with five 15,000-psi triplex pumps and carries two flexible steel umbilical lines that allow up to 70 bbl/min pumping rates. The vessel can store up to 99 cm (3,500 cf) of proppant above deck and an additional 113 cm (4,000 cf) below deck. Up to 10,400 bbl of fluid also can be stored below deck.

“The StimFORCE vessel’s pumping capacity of 8,800 hhp combined with the large flexible deck configuration allows multiple well acid or chemical treatments in a single trip without the need to return to the dock and resupply,” said Kevin Wetherington, the company’s managing director for the GoM. “The vessel’s fluid system, quality-control laboratory, and remote data acquisition services ensure critical pumping information is available during all operational phases.”

The StimFORCE vessel provides operators with another option to choose from and provides the industry with yet another positive sign that activity in the GoM is bouncing back.

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