Pioneering Spirit Nears Trial Job
Monday 1 August 2016
Swiss marine offshore construction contractor Allseas will this month begin the much-delayed removal of a test platform in the North Sea with its giant decommissioning vessel Pioneering Spirit.
The huge vessel will perform the topsides installation and removal exercises in the Dutch sector of the southern North Sea throughout the month after Allseas completed commissioning of the topsides lift system at Rotterdam.
The exercises at the test platform are set to test the giant twin-hulled vessel’s 12 installed topsides lift beams, with four more to be added later.
The exercises were originally planned for last year but operations with the unit were previously pushed back due to problems with the installation and commissioning of the topsides lift system beams.
Allseas said on Monday that all 12 topsides lift beams have now been tested to their respective lift capabilities of 3700 tonnes. The last of the four tests, involving four beams lifting a cumulative 14,700 tonnes, was carried out on 23 July. In harbour lifting trials the dozen beams together lifted more than 44,000 tonnes.
Once the exercises with the test platform are completed, the catamaran will head to its first commercial job, removal of Repsol Sinopec Energy’s 13,500-tonne Yme platform off Norway. That was originally set to happen in the second quarter last year, before being pushed back to this summer.
Once the Yme job is complete, the vessel will head back to Rotterdam for installation of the four remaining topsides lift beams. It will then start a lengthy contract to perform decommissioning work for Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell on the Brent field in the UK North Sea, starting with the 23,500-tonne Brent Delta topsides. That job, however, is not set to start until next summer.
The Brent Delta lift is expected to be the heaviest such offshore operation ever.
If all goes to plan, Pioneering Spirit will take the structure the 380 nautical miles (704 kilometres) to decommissioning company Able UK’s facility in Teesside, where a new super-strong quay is being purpose-built for the dismantling operation.