Drilling On Water Bodies and in Ports

The GeoGroup was recently contracted to conduct Geotechnical Investigations in various South African ports. In order to drill on water bodies, the Jack-up Barge (designed and built by the GeoGroup) had to be certified by SAMSA (South African Maritime Safety Authority) before it could set sail. Before the final inspection was passed, a series of submissions and assessments had to be done first. This included all the relevant paperwork and applications needed for submission, naval architects were contracted to draw up the plans of the barge for buoyancy certification, and finally, our teams had to ensure that all the appropriate safety equipment was on board. Receiving the certification allowed the commencement of work to start towards the end of 2022.

GeoGroup built its Jack-up barge in 2010. Since the inception of the Jack-up barge, named “Jack-Tup” Geomechanics has successfully completed numerous projects with the barge in varying conditions from rivers such as the Zambezi and Nile Rivers to Lake Malawi and Lake Albert. Its versatile and compact design makes it easy to transport via road or sea freight in two 12m containers which makes the Jack-up barge ideal for any near-shore, lake or river conditions. Since 2010, Geomechanics’ barge has gone through various upgrades and modifications to make it ideal to operate in a broad range of conditions to suit all our client’s needs.