Allseas has bagged another platform decommissioning contract. The company will remove Repsol Norge’s Gyda Platform, which is located in the Norwegian North Sea. The platform will possibly be reused. 

The contract covers both the 18,000 tons topsides and 11,200 tons jacket and also includes an option for reinstallation on another field, which would be an unprecedented step for a fixed installation off Norway, according to Allseas.

Gyda is a field in the southern part of the Norwegian sector in the North Sea which has been developed with a combined drilling and processing facility in 66 metres water depth. The platform started production in 1990 but the Gyda field is now nearing the end of its development. The platform is currently producing in parallel with plugging of the wells. Because the platform is still in very good technical condition, Repsol is considering to reuse it on another field.

As the jacket of the platform was vertically fabricated and installed back in the nineties, the structure cannot sustain loading in the horizontal position during transport. Allseas and Repsol spent more than a year studying ways to move it from its current location and bring it to shore for disposal. As solution, the Pioneering Spirit will transport the jacket in a near-vertical position (60 degrees) with the vessels unique jacket lift system.

Removal is planned for between late 2020 and 2023. Allseas has selected Kvaerner AS to dismantle and recycle the platform at its Stord disposal facility on the west coast of Norway.

The decommissioning market is slowly but surely starting to accelerate. Next to Allseas, Heerema Marine Contractors has also bagged several decommissioning contracts for its new crane vessel Sleipnir. Heavy-lift shipping company Jumbo recently also reported decommissioning activity, while Maersk’s new decommissioning venture Maersk Decom just finished its first gig.