A very heavy Christmas
The last load of a shipment of 20 Christmas trees, weighing more than 1,600 tonnes in total, is on its way from Aberdeen, Scotland to Chevron’s Gorgon Project in Western Australia.
They are, of course, no ordinary Christmas trees.
Technically known as subsea trees, the 82 tonne, 7-inch full bore machines operate at depths of up to 1,350 metres to manage fluid and gas injections, and monitor and control the flow of production wells.
Their nickname comes from the variety of valves, spools and fittings that make up each device.
When they arrive in Australia after a journey of more than 14,000 kilometres, the trees will undergo rigorous pre-installation testing in special pools before being deployed in the Greater Gorgon fields, up to 220km off the northwest coast of Western Australia.