Saudi Arabia - Mammoet, a global market leader in heavy lifting and transport, has announced that it has successfully delivered the first batch of modularly-constructed 'overwater villas' for Red Sea Global’s Sheybarah Island Resort in Saudi Arabia.

The company had been awarded the contract by Red Sea Global, for the transportion and installation of all 73 villa pods back in May 2022.

To support the shipment of the villas from the UAE to Saudi Arabia, it had teamed up with P&O Maritime Logistics, a leading provider of critical logistics and marine solutions.

Mammoet pointed out that it had achieved a new milestone with the installation of the first prefabricated, stainless steel overwater villa orb on its foundation.

A total of four villas were loaded in at the Port of Hamriyah in Sharjah, and were shipped to the island for installation at the site, it stated.

Located on the southeast of the archipelago on the Red Sea, the 73-key Sheybarah Island resort, designed by Dubai-based architectural firm Killa Design, comprises uniquely shaped overwater and beach villas, arrival, front of house and F&B buildings and other facilities.

It embraces the latest sustainable technologies in all elements of its design; an eco-friendly and sustainable design that not only preserves but enhances the biodiversity and the surrounding natural habitat, while offering a luxurious experience that will attract visitors from around the globe and elevating Saudi Arabia as a top tier marine eco-tourism destination.

The approach to the façade design was to minimize visual impact of the architecture on the environment by employing a highly reflective polished stainless-steel cladding that reflects the natural surroundings: the ocean, the sky, sand dunes and the reef below, it stated.

For the installation, Mammoet said it had used a 650 tonne capacity Demag CC3800 crawler crane positioned on top of its modified barge, ALE 250. The shallow draft of the barge meant that there would be minimal disturbance to the sensitive marine environment of this unique and picturesque archipelago in the Red Sea.

Sheybarah Island is home to a highly diverse environment with mangroves, white sand dune beaches and some of the most beautiful and pristine coral reefs in the world hosting many species of fish and other marine animals.

Robert van Tinteren, Lead Project Engineer for Mammoet said: "We have welcomed the start of 2023 with the delivery of the very first batch of modularly constructed villas for Red Sea Global’s Sheybarah Island Resort."

Elaborating on its key operation, the top official said at the construction jetty, the crane loaded and placed the first orb (an object shaped like a sphere or globe) on the barge deck and sailed to the installation area. Once at the location, the barge was positioned using a hyper-accurate GPS system and the barge’s own winches, for precise alignment with the foundation.

The barge was then stabilized using a retrofitted 300 tonne spud jacking system provided by Combifloat - Mammoet’s partner for floating and self-elevating marine equipment suitable for nearshore operations.

Safe and efficient lifting, lowering and (re)positioning of the barge was achieved through a locally controlled jacking mechanism and a 4-point mooring system.

"The crane was raised to lift the orb into place - its superlift was replaced by a system designed specifically for the project where the back mast of the CC3800 is “tied back” to the barge. This gave the crane enough capacity to skillfully place the orb onto the foundation without requiring the additional mass of a superlift tray," he explained.

Tinteren, while dubbing the whole operation as 'creative engineering' at its best, said: "It has been an exciting nine months building up to this point, but it never gets tedious to see the incredible things we at Mammoet can do when we put our minds to it!," he added.

Copyright 2022 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).