The Sea of Okhotsk forms the extreme limit of the Russian Far East. Here, in the ocean off the island of Sakhalin, two platforms, Lunskoye and Piltun Astokhskoye, have been constructed for integrated gas and oil production. There is scarcely any more hostile region in the world than this - bad weather prevails for 187 days of the year, with temperatures down to 35° C, intense snowstorms, severe gusts of wind, waves of up to 19 meters in height, and ice floes up to 1.5 meters thick. The Sakhalin project is therefore seen as a pioneer in the field of arctic requirements for offshore systems.

The two rigs each feature four-legged concrete foundations; Dillinger Hütte GTS supplied the heavy plate for the topsides, frames and equipment of these concrete structures, the greatest challenge posed up to now for our structural-steel developers. The significance in this context of "Arctic Requirements": the need to furnish proofs of exceptional toughness. Details of this project can be found in our Offshore Letter 1/2005; projects under similar conditions are now planned for the Barents, Kara and Pechora Seas.