Allseas has delivered Shell’s decommissioned Brent Charlie topsides to Able UK’s Seaton Port in Hartlepool, northeast England for dismantling and recycling.
Pioneering Spirit removed the structure from the supporting concrete legs earlier this month at the field location in the UK northern North Sea. At more than 31,000 metric tons, this was the largest single offshore topsides to be lifted, transported and delivered to shore, Allseas added.
Following the single-lift operation, the topsides were transferred to the company’s Iron Lady for the short tow to the Tees Estuary and from there to Seaton Port.
Barge and topsides were grounded onto the grounding bed in the wet dock for the load-in. On July 24, the topsides were skidded onto Quay 6.
To date, Able UK has delivered more than 97% recycling/reuse rates on the previously removed Brent Delta topsides (24,000 mt), Brent Bravo (25,000 mt) and Alpha (17,000 mt), and it aims for a similar level or better for Charlie.
Allseas announced the safe removal of Shell UK’s 31,000-tonne Brent Charlie platform topsides from the UK sector of the North Sea.
Shell had given Allseas the contract for the engineering, preparation and removal of the four Brent platforms in 2013, when Pioneering Spirit was still under construction.
The vessel was engineered to install and remove offshore platforms in a single lift using a special motion compensation system. It can lift entire topsides of up to 48,000 mt (work is underway to upgrade the capacity to 60,000 mt) and jackets up to 20,000 mt. The single-lift technology is said to limit the time spent on offshore preparation such as cleaning, separating into smaller pieces and installing lift points, reducing HSE risks in harsh offshore environments.
