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7-11 April 2014<br />
Europipe GmbH<br />
Germany<br />
4H42<br />
Europipe GmbH has signed a contract<br />
with South Stream Transport BV for the<br />
supply of steel pipes for the construction<br />
of the South Stream Offshore Pipeline.<br />
Europipe will produce over 600km for<br />
the first string of a total of 931km. The<br />
route of the 813mm (32") OD offshore<br />
gas pipeline runs through the Black Sea<br />
in depths of up to 2,200m, from Anapa<br />
in Russia to Varna in Bulgaria.<br />
Europipe’s order includes 450,000<br />
tonnes of pipe in accordance to DNV<br />
Offshore Standard DNV-OS-F101,<br />
Submarine Pipeline Systems 2010.<br />
The challenge is the high requirement<br />
concerning geometry (roundness).<br />
A good collapse resistance is<br />
indispensable for the security of the<br />
pipeline and the environment at external<br />
pressure of greater than 200 bar in<br />
2,200m pipe laying depth. Almost all of<br />
the pipes will receive an internal lining<br />
with epoxy and an outside coating with<br />
polypropylene.<br />
The order includes pipe manufacturing,<br />
pipe coating, procurement of pipe<br />
bends, buckle arrestors and the concrete<br />
weight coating of a part of the pipes, as<br />
well as the transport to Bulgaria.<br />
Europipe will produce all 450,000 tonnes<br />
at its large-diameter pipe mill in Mülheim,<br />
Ruhr, Germany. The steel plates needed<br />
for the pipe production will be supplied<br />
by Europipe’s shareholders, AG der<br />
Dillinger Hüttenwerke and Salzgitter<br />
Mannesmann GmbH.<br />
Under consideration of a tight delivery<br />
schedule, the two-shift production will<br />
take a large share of Europipe’s capacity<br />
for a period of more than 12 months,<br />
beginning in April. The contract includes<br />
135 pipe bends, which Europipe will order<br />
from Salzgitter’s subsidiary, Salzgitter<br />
Mannesmann Grobblech GmbH.<br />
Orders for the supply of concrete weight<br />
coating of 148km pipe and 429 buckle<br />
arrestors (pipes that prevent buckling<br />
of the pipeline during pipe laying) will<br />
be awarded to subcontractors. The<br />
South Stream Pipeline System consists<br />
of one offshore and several onshore<br />
sections. The natural gas pipeline, which<br />
will link Russia and the European Union<br />
via the Black Sea, will start commercial<br />
operation by the end of 2015 with an<br />
annual capacity of around 15.75 billion<br />
cubic metres. Full capacity of around<br />
63 billion cubic metres per annum will<br />
be achieved in late 2017 with three<br />
additional parallel pipelines.<br />
europipe@europipe.com<br />
www.europipe.com<br />
GERO<br />
Germany<br />
4H28<br />
In Italy in 1977, large quantities of<br />
seamless steel tubes seemed to be<br />
unsalable. The owner of GERO<br />
Gelsenkirchener Rohrhandels bought<br />
the stock to sell in Germany, and was<br />
quickly able to sell more than 2,000t.<br />
That was the start of GERO in steel<br />
tube trading, and the company is now<br />
an internationally recognised specialist<br />
for seamless steel tubes. GERO was<br />
convinced from the beginning that<br />
marketing seamless steel tubes would<br />
<br />
www.read-tpi.com March 2014 TUBE PRODUCTS <strong>INTERNATIONAL</strong> 81