Maersk to Start Leadon Decom Work
Tuesday 29 November 2016
Danish player Maersk Oil has awarded a decommissioning contract to its sister company Maersk Supply Service for work on the Leadon subsea field in the North Sea.
As lead contractor, Maersk Supply, will start work at Leadon in autumn 2017.
Project planning for the Leadon decommissioning is already underway and up to five Maersk Supply vessels, including the Starfish new-building from the nearby Janice field and one of the Stingray subsea support vessel new-buildings, are expected to be utilised in the project programme.
Located off the Shetland Islands, the Leadon subsea structure sits at approximately 120 meter water depth and the subsea structures to be recovered weigh up to 397 tonnes.
The project completion is expected in December 2017, Maersk said.
This summer, Maersk Supply started decommissioning work on the ageing Janice field in the North Sea. Work there, is progressing “on time and as planned”, according to the company.
“To date, Maersk Supply, has safely removed and delivered the Janice floating production unit (FPU), recovered all subsea risers and sunk the mid-water arches on the seabed in preparation for a rig to begin the plug and abandonment phase of the project,” Maersk said.
“The next phase of the project’s decommissioning will employ the company’s first of six Starfish new-buildings that are built for deep water anchor handling and oilfield operations,” it added.
This project’s end date is estimated during summer of 2018.
Maersk Supply launched earlier this year a new business unit aimed at providing the industry with integrated solutions, including project decommissioning.