Big barge loaded on small HLV

A big barge was loaded on a small heavy lift vessels in Åmøyfjorden, near Stavanger, Norway in Sept. 2011.
The barge had been used to transport the Yme Platform to the field and was due to be returned to Sharjah, UAE:


To make the loading operation more difficult, four smaller barges had been attached, two on either side, to give stability during offloading in the field;

One of the aft columns on the HLV Tai An Kou had to be moved to the opposite side to allow the barge to be loaded “off line”;

The barge was overhanging over the stern and sides:

Tai An Kou with the cargo secured and ready to depart for UAE via Suez Canal:


The barge was due to be used for one more launching of a J/U rig before scrapping.