First Subsea, has supplied a relatchable bend stiffener connector (BSC) to NOV Completion & Production Solutions for a flexible production riser for Statoil’s Gina Krog, turret moored, floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

The Type II 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 Type II connector, according to First Subsea, enables 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.

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.