Subsea connector specialist, First Subsea, is supplying a relatchable bend stiffener connector to NOV Completion & Production Solutions for a flexible production riser for Statoil’s new Gina Krog, turret moored, Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) vessel in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

The API 17L-1 compliant, Type II bend stiffener connector (BSC) comprises a ball and taper connector attached to a bend stiffener, which is pulled into a pre-machined, compact J-tube built into the turret. During pull-in the end fitting is fixed to the male BSC, once locked into the receptacle, the end fitting is detached, allowing the end fitting and 9” production riser to slide up into the J-tube, the company explained.

The Type II connector is self-energising and self-aligning, and features First Subsea’s Automatic Release Clamp (ARC) enabling both diverless and ROVless riser and umbilical connections. For the Gina Krog project, the Type II connector also features a Re-Connect System (RCS) allowing the end fitting to be delatched and the riser uninstalled and reconnected again as necessary, First Subsea added.

Gina Krog is operated by Statoil, located approximately 30 km and 40 km respectively, north of the Sleipner A platform in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

Gina Krog consists of a jacket platform for oil and gas processing and Eirin, a subsea development, tied back to Gina Krog. Produced oil is stored in the turret moored floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel, at 116m water depth, positioned about 2.5 km NE of the Gina Krog platform. Shuttle tankers will export the oil.