Products
Jack-up barge equipment modifications
Taking an existing barge and making it fit a new role, jacking upgrades, structural reinforcement, deck and control modifications, re-approved to class.
A jack-up barge is a long-lived asset that rarely spends its whole life doing one job. Moving it to a new role, deeper water, a heavier deck load, a different installation method, usually means modifying what’s already there rather than building new. Done properly, modification extends the life and widens the envelope of a proven vessel for a fraction of the cost of replacement. We engineer those modifications across the structure, the jacking system, the deck and the controls and take them through to class re-approval under single-party accountability.
What problem it solves
Operators are routinely asked to do more with an existing barge than it was built for, stand in deeper water, carry a new spread, jack faster or more safely, meet modern HSE expectations. Replacing the vessel is rarely justified; modifying it is, but only if the changes are engineered against the original design basis and re-verified. We assess what’s there, design the changes that the new duty needs and re-establish the load cases and class position so the modified barge is provably fit for its new role.
What we modify
- Jacking upgrades – faster, safer, better-controlled jacking on barges held back by short-stroke or manually-valved arrangements: central and automated control, regenerative speed-up, shock-absorption and preload control. See Jacking Systems.
- Structural reinforcement – hull, pontoon, leg and gripper-can reinforcement to carry revised load cases, heavier deck equipment or deeper-water leg loading.
- Deck & moonpool modifications – strengthening, layout changes, moonpool openings and equipment foundations so the deck can take a new equipment spread.
- Control retrofits – adding instrumented, centralised or wireless remote control to jacking and deck equipment that was built to be worked by hand.
- Access & means-of-access upgrades – bringing boarding and overside access up to current standards as part of the conversion. See Access Solutions.
- Class re-approval – re-establishing the load cases, calculation packs and certification (DNV, Lloyd’s Register, Bureau Veritas and ABS) so the modified vessel is verified to standard.
Where the modification is to add working equipment to the deck rather than change the vessel itself, see jack-up-mounted equipment.