More single-lifts of decommissioned oil platforms in North Sea
The Pioneering Spirit is out on the North Sea again to lift more decommissioned oil and gas platforms and bring the topsides to shore to be dismantled at scrapyards in the UK, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Equivalent of two Eiffel Towers
Last week, the All Seas’ heavy lift vessel made light work of the 14,000-tonne Tyra East Alpha (TEA) topside, needing just seconds to execute the lift, equivalent to two Eiffel Towers. The single-lift operation is part of the Tyra redevelopment project by oil company Total to modernize its North Sea platform, 225 km of the Danish coast, west of Esbjerg.
The redevelopment project includes the removal by the Pioneering Spirit of two top sides, four tripods/jackets and two modules. The topsides and the modules will be transported to MARS yard (Denmark) and the jackets to Sagro recycling yard (the Netherlands).
Round-trip to Denmark
‘This project involves multiple lifts of diverse structures and different weights,” says project Lead Engineer Marco Chiozzi at All Seas.
‘It’s a great feeling when you see all that hard work pay off. A quick 300 mile round-trip to Denmark and in a couple of days, we will be back here to do it all again!’, said Chiozzi just before arrival at the Tyra field to pull the 7,800-tonne West Alpha (TWA) topside out of the water.
Summer campaign on North Sea
After several months of preparatory works in Rotterdam, Pioneering Spirit started a summer 2020 campaign on the North Sea pulling a further 55,000 tonnes of ageing platform infrastructure out of the North Sea.
Its first job was on 22 June when it single-lifted Shell UK’s 17,000-tonne Brent Alpha platform to bring it to Able UK Teesside decommissioning yard in North East England for dismantling and recycling. The removal of Alpha is the first offshore lift for All Seas to utilise in-house developed horseshoes’, connection tools that clamp around pre-installed lift points (bearing brackets) mounted on the upper sections of the jacket’s legs.
Brent Alpha is the third of four platforms, after Delta (2017) and Bravo (2019), to be decommissioned by Shell UK and removed from the Brent oil and gas field. Production from the field continues through Brent Charlie, with Pioneering Spirit booked to remove the 34,000-ton topsides when the platform finally ceases production.
