Shell Bullwinkle

This is the Shell Bullwinkle platform. At the first glance, it looks like an ordinary platform like there are hundreds of them in the Gulf of Mexico, but this one is not so ordinary. It is the world record holder 'Tallest Pile Supported Fixed Steel Structure'. Bullwinkle was built in 1987 for a price tag of half a billion dollar at that time. Half for the jacket and half for the platform. And yes; it was installed by our company. The jacket itself measures 412 meters high and the platform adds another 110 meter to it. The tower is designed to resist hurricane force winds and 20 meter high waves. All together you are looking at 77,000 tons of steel. It is for sure that this record will remain unbeaten. Shortly after the delivery of Bullwinkle, new technology for deep-water structures was invented, ruling out these enormous jacket constructions and changing to floating platforms vertically connected to the sea floor with tubular pipes. Less steel and a smaller budget are needed to build these platforms.

See this picture for the tow out of the jacket itself, and yes, the tug trailing behind the barge is the Retriever