Module Support Frame
The Stafjord C Platform was the third in a series of installations installed in the Stafjord Field where the design was based upon a concrete Gravity Base Structure (GBS) supporting the platform Topsides. A feature of this design is structural component known as the Module Support Frame (MSF), which is a heavy lattice steelwork arrangement providing the interface between the top of the four GBS concrete columns and the Topsides process and utilities modules.
The MSF itself was built up of three sections, two outer sections which each spanned two of the concrete columns and a third which formed the mid-section. The Ardersier Yard was awarded a contract to build one of the outer sections, with the other two sections being built by German and Norwegian contractors. The Ardersier section of the MSF sailed from the Yard in 1981 to be assembled with the other MSF components on top of the GBS in a Norwegian Fjord. Production commenced on Statfjord C in the mid 1980’s and is intended to be operational until 2040.