Fabrication of suction anchors is carried out from a dedicated Pile Rack on the SONAMET facilities. This pile-rack was erected with the contribution of ExxonMobil for the Kizomba A and B projects and is a striking example of a unique chain of fabrication and assembly in Africa. For the Kizomba A project, 3,880 Tons of steel were manufacted into suction anchors of various sizes and shapes to deliver 15 FPSO piles, 7 piles for the Offshore Loading Buoy and 11 piles for the manifolds and SDU/UTA assemblies. 110 highly skilled fitters and welders worked over a 14 months period, completing two piles on average each months. Similar work on Kizomba B equals the manufacture of 3,600T of steel for almost the same number of piles.



The Pile Rack dedicated to suction anchors features the state of the art technology to oxycut and roll E36 pre-qualified steel plates, which are 3 x 12m and 3” (75mm) thick. Welding features semi-automatic (GSFCAW) and fully automatic welding (SAW), with 100% NDT control on welds.



Amongst extremely stringent requirements, the Out of Roundness Tolerances allowed are ½” for most piles, which for a 20m long pile – 5m in diameter, is quite minute!