Sandpiper  has completed nearshore construction activities for Santos’ Darwin Pipeline Duplication (DPD) in Northern Territory coastal waters.

Crew navigated intense heat and humidity, strong currents and tidal changes up to 8 metres to deliver the 32-kilometre shallow water section, including pull-in to the existing Darwin Liquified Natural Gas (DLNG) facility.

Pipelay was further complicated by the congested nearshore seabed, home to live gas lines, exclusion areas, protected wrecks and potential UXOs, requiring each anchor position to be carefully pre-engineered.

To overcome the challenges, Sandpiper  utilised her fully automatic positioning system to maintain pinpoint accuracy. Designed entirely in-house, the central console serves as the interface for the 10 winches – each spooling 1500 metres of lightweight, high-strength, self-floating lines – to speed up anchor deployment and improve performance and reliability.