The challenge

Petromar Lda, Angola’s largest oil and gas contractor, tasked Innovo with designing and supplying the hull for a barge to dredge the access channel to the port of Ambriz in Angola.

The solution

On a tight two-month turnaround from order to delivery, Innovo supplied a bespoke modular pontoon solution, Innofloat, to create a safe and secure hull for the dredging barge.

Eight Innofloat pontoons were supplied with their own CSC certificate and plate, enabling them to be shipped as a standard container within standard shipping procedures on normal container carrier vessels. This innovation reduced shipping time and costs by over 70% compared to standard modular pontoon costs, without compromising reliability or quality of the end product.

Each pontoon was manufactured in compliance with BV and RINA class requirements meaning ancillary equipment could be mounted onto the assembled hull.

Using a specially designed connection system, the pontoons were joined together at Petromar’s Ambriz yard to form the barge’s hull. Featuring a flat bottom and minimal draft, the Innofloat pontoons were ideally suited for the shallow water depths of the port’s channel.

The result

• 6 x 12m and 2 x 6m long modular pontoons formed the 30m long hull
• Innovo’s well-established, reliable supply chain enabled it to deliver the modular pontoons, complete with bollards and other ancillary equipment, in 57 days.