The Barry Beach Marine Terminal is the main supply depot and a critical
lifeline for the offshore oil and gas operations in Bass Strait.
Located approximately 240km south east of Melbourne, near Port Welshpool in
South Gippsland, Barry Beach can operate seven days a week and each year
transports thousands of tonnes of food, supplies, fuel and equipment to the 21
offshore platforms and installations.
Supply vessels based at
Barry Beach Marine Terminal service the platforms and installations in Bass
Strait. The vessels are owned by a third party and contracted to ExxonMobil on
an ongoing basis.
The vessels operate 24 hours a day and move
between platforms loading and unloading cargo. They are equipped with
specialised navigational equipment and propulsion systems which allow them to
operate close to the offshore platforms.
Around 50% of the
cargo delivered to the platforms are bulk products essential for drilling and
oil and gas production - diesel, water, glycol, barites and cement. These are
carried in below deck tanks. The balance of cargo is food (see below for
further information), machinery and general cargo needed to support and
maintain the offshore platforms and installations. This cargo is transported
on deck packed in specially designed containers.
Every now
and then specialist vessels are contracted to work from Barry Beach. Anchor
handling vessels or large tugs are used to move mobile offshore drilling rigs.
Diving support vessels, massive barges to carry pipe or steel jackets and,
vessels to lay pipelines are often required for offshore construction projects.
The warehouse at Barry Beach stocks around 5000 different items and has
separate storage areas for most classes of dangerous goods.
The wharf at Barry Beach is more than 360 metres long and uses a 110 tonne
pedestal crane to lift the cargo.
Food Deliveries to our Bass Strait Platforms
Up to
300 personnel and contractors are living and working offshore in Bass Strait
at any one time.
The offshore platforms operate 24 hours a
day and have fully equipped kitchens staffed by qualified cooks who serve
thousands of meals each year. Like the rest of the platform, the kitchens
operate 24 hours a day.
Each platform receives a food
delivery from Barry Beach once a week. A specialist catering firm is
contracted to provide all food services including ordering, logistics and
catering.
Food destined for the offshore platforms is first
delivered by refrigerated truck to the specialist food shed at Barry Beach.
From there it is packed into three types of food containers - frozen, chilled
(for fresh fruit and vegetables, milk, etc) and dry goods.
Onboard the supply vessels the containers are plugged into special connections
to keep the food at the required temperatures.
Pipes and Tubing
Offshore platforms require
hundreds of kilometres of metal pipes and tubing for both drilling and ongoing
oil and gas production.
At any one time Barry Beach stores
several thousand lengths of pipe and tubing of various sizes.
Production tubing, sometimes known as the production "string", is the inner
pipe up which the oil, gas and water flow. It is made up of 9.6m long "joints"
of tubing which are screwed together and run into the hole by the drilling
rig. Tubing used in Bass Strait wells varies in size between 5 and 18
centimetres in diameter.
Larger diameter pipes are also used
for casing in wells. Casing is permanently installed in a well during the
drilling phase and is cemented in place. Casing sizes vary between 18 and 33
centimetres in diameter.
As the pipes are stored outside it
is important that they are thoroughly cleaned and serviced before being
shipped out to the platforms for use. The pipeshed at Barry Beach cleans and
services approximately 1500 joints each month.
Escape Capsule Training
All offshore platforms are
equipped with Escape Capsules. These capsules are sophisticated, fireproof,
self-propelled liferafts and would be used in the unlikely event that
personnel were required to evacuate a platform.
As part of
its strict safety requirements ExxonMobil requires that all regular offshore
workers complete safety training in the use of the capsules.
This training is conducted in the fully equipped training centre at Barry
Beach.
Offshore Platform Construction
Between 1967 and 1986 fourteen offshore platforms were constructed at Barry
Beach.
At times between 300 and 400 construction workers
lived on site in a specially constructed hostel and up to three platforms
could be under construction at any one time.
An offshore
platform serves as a base for drilling, and later, oil and gas production and
processing facilities. Platforms are designed to be capable of withstanding
forces imposed by a '100 year wave', that is, the maximum wave likely to occur
in Bass Strait once in a hundred years.
During design of the
original platforms in the late 1960's long term weather data for Bass Strait
was limited, but the 100 year wave was estimated to be in excess of 18 metres
from trough to crest, with a crest elevation of about 14 metres above mean sea
level. Wind forces and weight of the structure including all drilling and
production equipment, were also taken into account in designing the platforms.
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