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00:00This is Storms, the newest, most sophisticated rock-dropping vessel on the planet.
00:11It's designed to beat the record.
00:14Her goal is to make deep-sea history, working over a kilometre down to level the path for
00:20the pipelines that fuel Europe.
00:22Everybody is eager to get to that depth.
00:25We are nearly on the edge of the safety zone.
00:28If she succeeds, Storms will open up a brand new world of oil and gas exploration at the
00:34bottom of the sea.
00:47Storms is the newest ship of her kind, working in the competitive world of offshore oil and
00:52gas.
00:54She's what's called a full-pipe vessel.
00:57Only one of a few ships in the world built to lay rocks as a bed, over which oil and
01:02gas pipelines are laid.
01:05Storms can install rocks faster and deeper than any of her rivals.
01:10And the man in charge of this rock-dropping operation is Dave MacLeod.
01:14Alan, we are going to KP 975, if you can give me a scan at 972.
01:25This vessel is definitely far, far above the standard.
01:29The set-up of the whole vessel is very good.
01:32Other vessels, they need really good weather, maximum 2-3 metre waves.
01:37We can work up to 4-5 metres.
01:42On the deck of the ship is a snake-like pipe.
01:45It acts like a funnel for the rocks that will be dropped to the bottom.
01:52The pipe is lowered through the middle of the ship all the way down to the seabed.
01:57Rocks fed from the ship's cargo holds fall through the pipe, giving it the name full-pipe.
02:08At the end of the full-pipe is a large yellow remotely operated vehicle, or ROV.
02:16Bristling with cameras and sensors to guide the pipe.
02:20The ROV has powerful thrusters which move the bottom of the pipe along just a few metres
02:25above the ocean floor, giving it pinpoint precision when laying rocks.
02:31The full-pipe on the Storns can descend deeper than the world's tallest building – more
02:36than 900 metres.
02:40The ocean floor is not easy to navigate.
02:43Underwater gas pipelines must negotiate rolling terrain and stretch across wide gullies.
02:49The stresses are enough to make the pipelines rupture.
02:53The rocks dropped by Storns form support in the gullies, so when the pipelines are laid,
02:58they remain secure.
03:05For Storns' first ever deepwater job, Shell has hired the ship to lay rocks at one of
03:10the most challenging sites in the world.
03:16The Ormen Lange gas field lies 120 kilometres off the west coast of Norway.
03:23Ormen Lange already supplies 20% of the United Kingdom's natural gas.
03:32Storns is laying the foundations for two new pipelines, each 5 kilometres long, at depths
03:37ranging from 800 to 1,000 metres.
03:41In all, she will drop 450,000 tonnes of rock to complete the job.
03:47This project will establish the ship's credibility.
03:51And Storns has just two months to pull it off.
04:04At the helm is an experienced captain who is eager to see how his new ship will perform
04:08on her first deepwater mission.
04:31No full-pipe ship has worked deeper than 1,000 metres.
04:37Storns is built to break that threshold.
04:43If she succeeds, she will open up access to a whole other level of deep-sea oil and gas
04:48exploration.
04:53Les Sturgeon is the Shell representative on board.
04:57It's not decided yet, but there is talk of pushing development into deeper water further
05:02north on this project, so should that development come, Shell would like to know that this vessel
05:07can work in those water depths.
05:10The entire crew has an eye set on the deepwater record, including Sergio van Pelt, the assistant
05:16full-pipe superintendent.
05:17You're talking 1,000 metres.
05:18So we're pushing the system to the limits then.
05:19Yeah, we're going to be bumped up for it, of course.
05:20Yeah, you're trying to set a record, so everybody's going to be eager to get to that depth.
05:33It's just after 9pm in the fjords leading to the small seaside town of Averoi, Norway.
05:47Storns is here to pick up the first 27,000 tonnes of rock she needs to do the job.
05:55She's one of the largest ships to ever sail into this port.
05:59175 metres long, 25 metres across, with a crew of 50, Storns is the second largest vessel
06:07in her class.
06:10Being the newest, all eyes are on her until she proves her place as the world's best rock
06:15dropper.
06:23The local harbour pilot comes aboard to help bring in the huge ship.
06:30On the bridge, he is now in charge.
06:35Going straight alongside?
06:36Yeah, this one is mooring on the starboard side.
06:37All right.
06:38Do you speak?
06:39Sir, we're going to request the mooring crew.
06:40Yeah, OK.
06:41Moor on.
06:43The mooring crew sets out from shore to fight the elements and tie the ship down.
06:53It's freezing cold and blowing snow, typical for January.
07:04Buffeted by waves, the crew struggles to get the huge ship snug against the pier.
07:12Next to the docks is a huge quarry, which will feed Storns her load of rocks.
07:38It's time to start loading the rocks.
07:42The three-and-a-half-ton hatch on the first hold opens.
07:47The conveyor belt from the quarry moves into place.
07:52A digger and bulldozer work together to dump rocks onto a conveyor that stretches across
07:57the jetty to Storns.
08:03Storns can hold a staggering 27,000 tons of rocks.
08:10As each hold fills up, the weight is enough to actually bend the hull of the ship.
08:15So they follow a specific loading sequence that reduces that stress and prevents the
08:19hull from cracking.
08:24The rocks are granite and custom-cut to no more than 12 centimeters across.
08:31The loading continues non-stop, all night, at a rate of 1,800 tons an hour.
08:40While the rocks tumble into the mammoth holds, deck engineer Pedro de Freitas is racing against
08:46the clock to load supplies.
08:57Time is money.
08:59Once Storns starts her job, overlooking even the tiniest item could prove critical.
09:09Twelve hours later, the Arctic winter sun still isn't up.
09:13But a mountain of rock is now on board.
09:27On the bridge, Captain Ed Noctegal gives the order to cast off.
09:43The captain leads the rock-heavy ship out past the treacherous shoals at the mouth of
09:47the fjord and into open seas, toward Orman Lange.
09:55Ready to her maximum, Storns will now attempt to lay 27,000 tons of rock one kilometer down
10:03on the bottom of the sea.
10:14The boulder-dropping, four-pipe ship Storns is en route with 27,000 tons of rock.
10:22Her job is to create rock supports on the seabed that will level out the ocean floor
10:27for a new branch of gas pipelines, the latest in a web of pipelines that fuel Great Britain.
10:34This ship will drop these rocks and then come back to port over and over again until the
10:39job is done, 18 times in two months.
10:46Storns steams full speed for the Orman Lange gas field, six hours away.
10:53She's left port two days ahead of schedule, but the weather waiting for them at the worksite
10:57threatens to stop them in their tracks.
11:00Captain Ed Noctegal has seen it all before.
11:03We have the conditions when there is a depression starting from Greenland or from America that
11:08comes to Europe.
11:09It has the possibility to build up the waves.
11:14If waves exceed five meters, the four-pipe cannot be deployed.
11:19Les Sturgeon is the shell-rep on board.
11:22We are limited to the weather conditions we can work in.
11:25We have something called a significant wave height and the knock-off is about four-and-a-half,
11:31five meters.
11:32Once they get to the site, decision-making goes to the four-pipe superintendent, Dave
11:37McLeod.
11:38It's going to be extremely difficult.
11:42The sea state at the moment, we have wave heights five meters.
11:46You can see the rolling off the vessel.
11:48I give it a 50-50 chance.
11:53As worried as he is about the waves on the surface, Dave is even more concerned about
11:57the strong underwater currents of the Norwegian Sea.
12:02Surface currents move in one direction.
12:04Those in the deep move in another, which can twist the four-pipe into an S-shape, making
12:10the entire operation much more difficult.
12:12Sometimes impossible.
12:13I really hope everything goes well.
12:14If I have the impression the weather will force us to stop because it will give us too
12:23much problem, I will not take the risk to go down.
12:26It has to go the first time right.
12:28If it goes wrong, then we have big problems.
12:32With storms steaming out to the site, Chief Engineer Mark van der Stok and Chief Officer
12:38Riemer van Doorn head below decks to inspect the ship's massive conveyor belt system.
12:57It's a one-of-a-kind and brand-spanking-new.
13:01And it's the linchpin to the four-pipe system's success.
13:05They test the belts with a small amount of rock.
13:07Yes, please, so I can check if everything is OK, if it's falling from the gate.
13:16A complex conveyor system runs almost the full length of the ship.
13:21This moves the rocks out of the holds and into the four-pipe.
13:27All in all, there's almost a kilometre of conveyors running up and down the ship.
13:51If any one of these belts gets damaged, the whole system shuts down.
13:57There's a metal plate coming loose in the cargo hold and can go on the belt, can cut all the belts.
14:02Hydraulic spill can happen and a lot of things can go wrong.
14:06Well, there are so many moving parts and so many things which are still obviously new.
14:10But yeah, as long as it's machinery, everything can and eventually will break down.
14:15For their client, that's not an option.
14:18In just two months, another ship is scheduled to lay pipes on top of the rocks.
14:22Storms have been contracted to drop.
14:27Delays could cost millions of dollars if the job isn't done before the pipeline ship arrives.
14:33Storm's reputation is on the line.
14:39Six hours later, Storms arrives at the site and the weather has improved.
14:46The sea floor here is rugged.
14:49The crew is eager to get to work, levelling it out by deploying the full pipe and laying some rocks.
14:55The first step is to launch the device fixed to the bottom end of the full pipe,
15:00the remotely operated vehicle or ROV.
15:08Storms has a trap door in her hull.
15:11It's called the moon pool.
15:13It opens to reveal a gap large enough to drop an articulated lorry through the belly of the ship.
15:19The ROV is equipped with four cameras and three sonar sensors
15:24that are the crew's eyes and ears on the ocean floor.
15:27Controlled by pilots on the ship, it has thrusters, small powerful propellers, to manoeuvre it.
15:35From a height taller than any skyscraper, rocks tumble through the full pipe onto their precise target.
15:42With a margin for error of just 20 centimetres.
15:49This ROV has never been deployed in waters as deep as this
15:53and the crew is eager to see how it will perform.
15:59The full pipe uses a series of open cylinders called buckets held together by chains.
16:09The buckets fit together like Russian dolls, then stretch as they drop through the moon pool.
16:15At full length, the chains alone weigh 17 tonnes
16:20and the full pipe can be a staggering 1,000 metres long.
16:29Storms can deploy her flexible full pipe in less than three hours.
16:34Systems on older vessels take six hours or more.
16:40The entire operation is controlled from a location called the dump desk.
16:44It's the ship's nerve centre and Dave McLeod is at its hub.
16:51They're keeping a close watch on the new ROV.
16:57It's plain sailing down to 300 metres, but suddenly a problem.
17:02Sergio van Pelt heads to the moon pool and discovers a severe issue.
17:07We have an electrical problem on the ROV,
17:10so we're trying to figure out if we can sort it once the ROV is down in the water.
17:14If that's not the case, then we'll have to recover the buckets
17:17and after that recover the ROV and see what kind of problem we have.
17:20Solving the problem might be a big deal.
17:23The brand new ROV is completely dead.
17:26The ROV has been in the water for three days.
17:29The brand new ROV is completely dead
17:32and they're only one third of the way to the bottom.
17:38What we're trying to figure out is if we can resolve the problem
17:43on software-wise on the control panel on the bridge.
17:46Hopefully we can get it working again.
17:52If the dump desk crew can't solve the problem,
17:55the full pipe will have to come back up to the ship.
17:58But that's not in the schedule.
18:03Once the ROV fixed to the end of the full pipe is deployed,
18:07it is meant to stay down until all the rocks are dropped.
18:11We will take up the arms.
18:13We keep it here for a few minutes before we go down.
18:18They switch power to one of the other umbilical cables,
18:21the lifeline between the ship and the ROV.
18:24Suddenly the ROV comes back online.
18:28Please.
18:30The glitch seems to be fixed.
18:33OK, Dave, copy that.
18:35Continue launching.
18:40Minute by minute, metre by metre,
18:42the full pipe is lowered almost a kilometre into the ocean.
18:54Then, at 900 metres, another blackout.
18:58The ROV once again goes dead.
19:03The launching went very successful.
19:05Just when we were about to start working at 900 metres,
19:08the ROV suddenly became dead,
19:11meaning we lost electronics on the ROV.
19:14We have an earth fault somewhere in the system.
19:17The pilots scramble to recover communication with the ROV.
19:21Meanwhile, Chief Tech Engineer Fred de Boer racks his brain.
19:2565 voltage.
19:27Is that what you're giving me to the midship?
19:30He suspects there is a problem with the second umbilical cable.
19:36I think our umbilical has been damaged somewhere.
19:41I don't know where.
19:43On the first-ever deep-sea deployment of the full pipe,
19:47the entire operation is dead in the water.
19:50And Storms hasn't even dropped a single rock.
19:55It's day two for the full pipe vessel Storms
19:58on her first-ever deep-water job.
20:01Her brand-new ROV is malfunctioning, lifeless,
20:05and the mission is at a halt.
20:09Her task is to drop thousands of tonnes of rock down a long pipe
20:13to level the ocean floor for a gas pipeline expansion.
20:18The crew switches over to the third and final set
20:21of communication lines on the ROV.
20:24The cameras are offline.
20:26But other sensors are working
20:28and feeding sonar data back to the ship.
20:31It's time to make a decision.
20:33Pull up and go back to port,
20:35or keep working at the bottom of the sea.
20:38Dave McLeod, the man in charge,
20:40has experienced failures like this before.
20:43He knows they can safely operate with the sensors
20:46that are still working.
20:48Just give it a try.
20:50Restart everything up.
20:52We'll just have a look for half an hour to see how it goes.
20:56Keep an eye on the balance.
20:58Dave McLeod, the man in charge,
21:00has experienced failures like this before.
21:03He knows they can safely operate
21:05with the sensors that are still working.
21:07Keep an eye on the balance.
21:09OK.
21:10If he's wrong, he's wasting precious time
21:13on a job where time is the one thing they don't have.
21:19Despite the technical setback, McLeod keeps his cool.
21:23It's a new ship,
21:25and he knows things do go wrong in the first few voyages.
21:29In normal life, it would be quite expensive.
21:32However, we have calculated
21:34you will have some problems.
21:37Assistant Superintendent Sergio van Pelt
21:40works with the ROV pilot in pitch-black water.
21:43It's hard, but they navigate with sonar alone.
21:50One collision with the sea floor and the operation's done.
21:54There's no backup.
21:56Over there.
21:58Up over there you need to go.
22:01Make them another 10 metres to the south, please.
22:06Success.
22:07Without video, the skilled crew manages to guide the fall pipe
22:11within mere centimetres of the exact position.
22:16Exciting, the first rock at 900 metres.
22:20I'm quite happy with that.
22:22So I hope the problems are solved.
22:24I'm not 100% confident yet,
22:27but let's hope we can continue working.
22:30Now the difficult task starts,
22:32to get all the rock in the right place.
22:35Before a single rock can be laid,
22:37the ROV performs a sonar survey of the bottom
22:40to confirm that their existing map of the sea floor is correct.
22:45Surveyor Bartosz Kowalsik
22:47recognises the real challenges ahead.
22:50Ormenlange is a very strange environment.
22:53It's not completely flat like in the UK.
22:56In here you can see plenty of mountains, plenty of dips,
23:00a lot of different features on the seabed.
23:03This is extremely difficult.
23:06End of survey.
23:08The critical job begins with the data
23:10the survey team can gather from the ROV.
23:14There's a survey on the location 5025 south
23:17and I would recommend to use the aft one.
23:25Chief Surveyor Robert Kroll takes the data from the ROV
23:28to map out where the pipeline will eventually go
23:31and where the rocks need to be laid.
23:33There's no pipeline yet,
23:35so we design our own grid over the working area
23:38and that is just a square grid of lines crossing each other
23:42and we take one line as the main line,
23:44which is always the long line,
23:46and we navigate on those lines.
23:48All the while Storms is kept in place over the worksite
23:52by a system called dynamic positioning.
23:55GPS communication with the ship's thrusters
23:58ensures that she doesn't move more than 50 centimetres,
24:01even in 3-metre waves.
24:04The system is one of the most precise in the world.
24:09The data's confirmed.
24:10The site is about 70 metres across and 40 wide,
24:14with depressions as deep as 3 metres.
24:24The four pipes' job is to fill in an uneven area
24:27of the ocean floor with tonnes of rock.
24:33The rocks provide support for the pipelines
24:36that will be laid here in two months.
24:40Without these supports, the gas lines could rupture.
24:44I need you to come 50 metres to the east.
24:485-0 to the east.
24:49Yes, and then stop on track.
24:51Stop on track.
24:52It's quite amazing that we can achieve that at this depth.
24:56It's interesting to see that it actually works.
25:02Go to KP975.
25:04If you can give me a scan at KP975.
25:06Despite problems with the ROV cameras,
25:08the dump desk uses the sonar sensors
25:10to lay rocks in the exact position.
25:14The complex web of conveyor belts
25:16transfers tonnes of rocks out of the holds.
25:21They feed directly into the fallpipe,
25:23which dangles hundreds of metres below the ship.
25:27The rocks leave the mouth of the fallpipe
25:30and fall to the ocean floor to fill this depression,
25:33exactly where the future pipeline will go.
25:38Every hour, the weight of 10 locomotives
25:41pour down the fallpipe.
25:43But problems with the ROV are still a big concern.
25:52A few hours later, their worst fears come true.
25:56Another complete failure.
25:58All communications with the ROV are lost.
26:05For the second time in as many days,
26:08work aboard Storms grinds to a halt,
26:11with no quick fix in sight.
26:15Operations chief Dave McLeod declares its situation critical.
26:20The ROV and the entire fallpipe have to come back up on deck.
26:25Dave's right-hand man, Sergio van Pelt,
26:28thinks Storms might even have to go to shore
26:31to fix the problem.
26:34Most of the problems we can fix ourselves on board.
26:37This seems to be a little bit bigger problem,
26:40or a deeper problem,
26:42so we might have to call in and take care of it.
26:45Dave's right-hand man, Sergio van Pelt,
26:48thinks Storms might even have to go to shore
26:51to fix the problem.
26:53So we might have to call in a technician from the manufacturer.
26:57If that's the case, then we're going to be going in two days early.
27:01So we're going to be losing two, three, four days of production time.
27:05That's not good. That's not what we want.
27:08So if we switch off and just get the cable out
27:11and then switch on again, let's see what happens.
27:14It's taken three hours to bring the complete fallpipe back on board.
27:18Now Chief Deck Engineer Fred de Boer and the ROV pilots
27:22can find the problem.
27:24The problem with the ROV at this moment
27:27is that we have a line insulation problem.
27:30So this means that somewhere there's a shortage.
27:33So it can be water ingress or maybe dodgy cables
27:36because we are at 1,800 metres water depth,
27:39there's a lot of pressure on.
27:41So we're going to do some troubleshooting
27:44and going to do some measurements
27:46because I don't want to do this again.
27:48Hoping to be way ahead of schedule,
27:51the drones could be set back days.
27:56Maybe we have to check the rotating junction boxes as well.
27:59Maybe there's moisture inside.
28:01The team finally comes up with a solution.
28:04Rewire the ROV.
28:09We think we've got the problem solved.
28:11The moisture connector.
28:13As soon as you get water into the contacts of the electricity,
28:17then the system just shuts down.
28:19They re-insulate all the wiring
28:21and move the wires away from the powerful thrusters
28:24that propel the ROV.
28:26These cables that are damaged,
28:29there are two cables that are near the thrusters.
28:32We have to reroute the cables
28:34so it has less problems with the shaking vibration of the motors.
28:41Six hours later, they've completed the rewiring job
28:45and the ROV springs to life.
28:49It works on deck,
28:51but will it work nearly a kilometre down at the bottom of the sea?
28:59Dave MacLeod gives the go-ahead
29:01to lower the fallpipe and ROV again.
29:03He hopes the problems are solved
29:05and can't afford to lose any more time.
29:10The news is good.
29:12All functions of the ROV are working perfectly.
29:15The fallpipe is deployed to the correct position.
29:19And four hours later,
29:21the job at the first site is complete.
29:31Storms moves on to her next work site,
29:34just two kilometres away.
29:37This is the big one.
29:39They will offload almost 10,000 tonnes of rock
29:43in this 120 by 50 metre site
29:46at a depth of a full 900 metres.
29:50The job starts with an exacting survey.
29:54It's a virgin location.
29:56I'm looking forward to this one.
29:58It's not an easy one,
30:00but hey, we're working at 900 metres.
30:03Going forward to 976.
30:05A little bit to the left.
30:07And you can come forward.
30:09Slowly forward.
30:11Slowly forward.
30:13This is indeed a counterfill
30:15in an area that is at the moment very uneven.
30:19So we have to make it reasonably flat.
30:22We have to make it flat.
30:24We have to make it flat.
30:26We have to make it flat.
30:28We have to make it flat.
30:30We have to make it flat.
30:32It has to be reasonably flat
30:34and that is quite difficult.
30:36We've got to reset it.
30:38The crew must remain totally focussed
30:41in this mountainous terrain
30:43to avoid an underwater collision.
30:45A little bit to the left, Mark.
30:47A bit to the left.
30:49Levi, you can come two metres south.
30:51Two metres south.
30:53OK, Mark, you can come to Kp 975.
30:55OK.
30:56The new wiring on the ROV is holding.
30:59Offset is completed.
31:01The technical survey is complete at this second site.
31:10Conveyors from the holds now move rocks up and down the ship,
31:14leading them to the hopper that funnels into the fall pipe.
31:19From there, they drop 900 meters,
31:22more than twice the height of the Empire State Building,
31:25to a precise position on the ocean floor.
31:29Tower, tower. Bridge.
31:32How is the position, Bartosz?
31:34It's OK.
31:35It's OK? OK, you come two meters out.
31:37Just two meters out, please.
31:40Surveyor Bartosz Kowalsik carefully watches the ROV's readouts,
31:44fearing another failure.
31:47What do you want to do next, Peter?
31:49Well, after the survey, we trek to the main field area,
31:53and we just do a little sprinkle on the corners.
31:57And the plan is that's the corners.
32:00Here we've got the profiles.
32:02We're still 11 meters to go to the north.
32:05We made it easy for you.
32:07Of course. Of course.
32:09That's what I like. That's what I like.
32:11We'll do 60 tons here, and then we'll land on the total south.
32:17Finally, Dave McLeod believes things are back on track.
32:21Progress is going very well. I'm very happy.
32:25Over the next day,
32:26rocks are deposited on precise targets throughout the site.
32:30We keep it here just a little bit long,
32:32and then we go again forward a little bit,
32:34for the ditch to the left.
32:38The crew can take their first breather.
32:42And that includes workouts,
32:46haircuts,
32:49and e-mails home.
32:58Can you raise the ROV just a meter?
33:01Within hours, the undersea depression at the second site is filled.
33:06The holds are empty.
33:08It's time to pull up.
33:11Ready for recovery.
33:13OK, so you're starting at...
33:16OK, so you're starting recovery now.
33:19Copy that.
33:28But just as the fallpipe is being retrieved,
33:31a new problem arises, just 65 meters from the surface.
33:35There's a lot, a lot of current.
33:39The current is carrying the fallpipe away from the ship,
33:42smashing it against the sides of the moon pool.
33:45Storms moves with the current to center the fallpipe,
33:48but that's carried her close to the safety zone
33:51of a nearby drill ship.
33:56Captain Ed Noctegall is well aware of the rules.
33:59He can't enter the safety zone without a permit.
34:02But he also wants to get the fallpipe back on deck
34:05without damaging it.
34:08The captain monitors the delicate situation from the deck.
34:12We are retracting the ROV now and the fallpipe.
34:15We are nearly on the edge of the safety zone,
34:18and basically we're not allowed to enter the safety zone.
34:21The ROV is stuck, dangling 65 meters from the bottom of the ship.
34:27And with strong currents bending it away,
34:30there's no way to retrieve it.
34:37Storms is one of only a few ships in the world
34:40that can level the ocean floor with rock.
34:43Drop down a flexible pipe that is two and a half times
34:46the height of the Empire State Building.
34:50But now that pipe is bending precariously in the current.
34:54Retrieving it has brought Storms dangerously close
34:57to the safety zone of a nearby drill ship.
35:01Chief Engineer Fred de Boer is fighting the current
35:05to reel in the fallpipe quickly.
35:10But it is smashing against the side of the moon pool
35:13and can't be dragged up.
35:16There's a lot of current,
35:18so we have now a little bit of throttle trying to recover.
35:22So that's a bit of a problem at this moment,
35:25so we have to look how we deal with this.
35:29But then the current subsides,
35:32just enough to haul the remaining pipe and the ROV onto the ship.
35:40Now it's a race against time to move away from the other ship
35:44and return to port to load up with more rocks
35:47and attempt the final, deepest and most difficult drop yet.
35:51Yeah, I mean, it's a game.
35:59Six hours later, they pull into port and immediately get to work,
36:04reloading another 27,000 tonnes of rock.
36:14At daylight, the crew quickly takes up the mooring lines
36:18and Storms pulls away from the quarry.
36:21Then it's back out towards the Orman Lange gas field,
36:25120 kilometres away.
36:3050 kilometres from their work site,
36:32the unforgiving Norwegian sea crashes in on her.
36:37Four-metre waves rock Storms.
36:40Her working limit is five.
36:47On the bridge, Captain Ed Noctegall keeps a close watch on the waves.
36:52The computer indicates they are within the working limit of five metres.
36:56For now.
36:59Despite the rough seas, they reach their new, deepest site on time.
37:04Dave MacLeod gives the word.
37:06Lower the full pipe.
37:10Hello, Mr Kasaka.
37:12Hello, man. I like your perfume.
37:14Yeah, OK. You can have it off your fingers.
37:16They try to work quickly to get the job done before the weather shuts them down.
37:22Let's try a reverse, please.
37:24Reverse.
37:25Same offset, same speed.
37:27You're going north again, speed setting 10.
37:30The ship's thrusters are powerful, but no match for the power of the sea.
37:36Our boat thrusters are having a hard time.
37:43The weather threatens to get even worse.
37:46But despite the heavy seas, Dave MacLeod wants to push the new ship to her limits.
37:52We have a weather forecast showing that we will get waves up to seven metres.
37:56I know that it's not workable anymore.
37:59But can you still work at four metres or five metres, or maybe six?
38:09Rocks continue to pour down the ship's full pipe.
38:14The next day, they are halfway through the job.
38:17Dave MacLeod anxiously watches the sea from the bridge.
38:22We are pushing the vessel. We want to see the sea.
38:26We are pushing it.
38:28We are pushing it.
38:30We are pushing it.
38:32We are pushing it.
38:34We are pushing it.
38:36We are pushing it.
38:38We are pushing it.
38:41We are pushing the vessel. We want to see the limits.
38:44But, of course, we have a safety margin.
38:47I cannot just go over the limits.
38:50At the moment, we are at a state that it's just getting to the end.
38:57Staunts has run straight into the realities of rough offshore work.
39:06As you can see, the weather is picking up.
39:08I think we are almost at the limits of making a good rock berm.
39:14I think we are on the limits as well, Warrant.
39:17With the DP.
39:19It's still tracking, but it's not so reliable anymore.
39:22With waves as high as the deck pounding them, Dave MacLeod makes the call.
39:27Okay, Sergeant, this is going to be the last run.
39:30After this run, we're going to do one more survey run, and then we bring up the system.
39:34Okay.
39:35Okay.
39:36They'll have to wait out the weather and finish up later.
39:39Okay, one more scan on the aft, please.
39:42Speeder is off.
39:43There's no possibility we can go now to deep water.
39:46Absolutely not, no.
39:48Okay, J.O., when you're ready, you can stop your system and wait for the tower,
39:54and then they can close all the sections to make it watertight.
39:58Okay, that's it.
40:00You can retract the belt. We'll stop the system, then you can retract the belt only.
40:06Okay, copy that.
40:10Okay, system stopped.
40:12Start recovery.
40:15Out on the deck, Sergio and his team secure the full pipe as it comes up,
40:20getting ready to face the brunt of the storm.
40:23Come on, Robert, push some gas on that.
40:28Now a new problem.
40:30The ROV is tangled in its umbilical cables 20 meters down.
40:34It's stuck and can't be raised or lowered.
40:39Using the other two umbilical cables,
40:41they manage to get the ROV level enough to free the tangle.
40:45They gently haul the ROV into the moon pool.
40:56The crew lashes it down for the rough ride back to shore.
41:02We've finished everybody's accommodations.
41:06Okay, I'm going to see everything secured.
41:10Yeah, okay.
41:13Storms is daunted, but not defeated.
41:19She has proven she has what it takes.
41:24It's absolutely brilliant.
41:26It's the first time we have been to 900 meters.
41:29Storms has successfully filled her first two sites
41:32at a speed no other full pipe vessel can match,
41:36all at depths of almost a kilometer.
41:39The performance of the vessel is really much better
41:42than the previous vessels I've been on.
41:45The whole rock installation equipment is so good.
41:48Yeah, I'm extremely happy.
41:51So we're making full speed now, 14.5 knots.
41:55She heads for port to reload with rocks for the next part of the job.
42:09She'll finish this project on time,
42:12dropping half a million tons of rock in the Orman Langer gas field.
42:19The pipeline can now be laid on the level seafloor.
42:27And if she can work in the treacherous mountain ranges of the Norwegian Sea,
42:32Storms has proven she can work anywhere.
42:39Start of survey.
42:41The best of all is just to stand up with your toes.
42:45The best of all is just to stand up with your chest out
42:48and say, yeah, we did that, nobody else can do it.
42:52Her crew is proud of her and the critical job she does.
43:00Hello, Noel Rimmer.
43:02Yeah, of course, we always like to go to the highest output,
43:05the deepest water.
43:07You feel great, you feel like I'm the king of the rock dumping industry.
43:13Storms works day and night to level the bottom of the sea
43:17for the pipelines that fuel Europe.
43:20And thanks to this ship,
43:22new untapped resources below the seafloor are now within reach.
43:42For more UN videos visit www.un.org