WORLD'S LARGEST HEAVY LIFT HOVER BARGE LAUNCHED IN THE SWAMPS OF SURINAME

Hovertrans Inc., the only active hover barge design, construction and operating company in existence, today launched the World's largest hover barge (air-cushion barge). Air-cushion technology allows oil exploration and production operators the advantage of accessing environmentally sensitive wetlands Worldwide - without causing any damage to the terrain.

The challenge was to provide a stable oil well drilling and equipment platform in the environmentally sensitive swamp areas of Northern Suriname. The innovative design enabled the hover barge to be assembled on a remote site at the edge of the swamp. The hover barge is 170ft by 90ft, weighs 900 gross tons with a 330 ton payload. The hover height is 4ft and when on hover, only exerts 1psi ground pressure. It features a 40ft by 10ft keyway slot which allows the hover barge to move away from the well head once drilling is completed.

The success of this project is a continuation of successful air-cushion projects completed throughout the world. Over the last 30 years, Hovertrans management has spearheaded and completed projects spanning from Suriname in South America, to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, to the Yukon River in Alaska and transition zones in the United Kingdom.

On the Yukon river, two hover barges provided round the clock, roll-on, roll-off, ferry services to the construction of the Trans Alaskan pipeline project. Operating in sub-zero temperatures, over 100,000 tons of equipment was shipped per month. Turn-around times were frequently under three minutes and less than 5 per cent of scheduled movements were adversely affected by weather or technical problems. The company's drilling platforms were also used successfully in Scotland where attempts to take geological samples from an extensive area of peat bog marshland had been hampered for 30 years due to the unstable terrain.