Understanding the potential pitfalls of offshore decommissioning
Offshore Seminar 2022, edition Decommissioning & Recycling, is taking place on Wednesday 20 April, at Hal4 aan de Maas in Rotterdam. In the weeks running up to this live event, we will be introducing all our speakers individually. Our next speaker in this series of speaker introductions is Marcella Croes-Schalken of Modern American Recycling Services, Inc.
Marcella Croes-Schalken is a maritime oil & gas professional with 20+ years’ experience across multiple disciplines in the maritime and offshore oil and gas industry, including heavy lift, pipe laying, and wind. She spent several years sailing and working offshore as a nautical officer for companies such as Dockwise and AllSeas.
Since the end of 2019 Croes-Schalken has been working as VP Business Development & Strategy for Modern American Recycling Services, Inc, a company with its headquarters in the USA that provides quality offshore demolition, repair and recycling services worldwide.
Understanding the potential pitfalls of offshore decommissioning
During Offshore Seminar, Croes-Schalken will discuss the challenges of offshore decommissioning.
Croes-Schalken explains: “Decommissioning is an inherently hazardous exercise, one that requires meticulous planning, experienced management and an extremely defined skill-set, if it is to be executed safely. Comprehensive planning lies at the heart of every successful decommissioning project, but the challenges are undeniably greater. Offshore structures degrade much faster than a similar asset on an inland location, due to their exposure to the elements.
This adds to the difficulties associated with establishing their ‘known state’ and understanding the potential pitfalls that lie ahead. Upon first arrival on site, it is therefore imperative to assess the structural integrity of the remaining assets and, equally important, the level of the residual product, as well as any loss of containment.”
Waste management program
Another challenge related to offshore decommissioning lies in the transport of materials, Croes-Schalken says: “Decommissioning experts are by now adept at delivering projects with almost 100% material reuse and recycling rates, to the point where such high environmental standards are now becoming the norm. Consideration should, however, be given to the waste management program for offshore works, especially because there is the added – yet manageable – challenge of transporting materials (including hazardous substances) back onshore.”
Learn more about this topic from Marcella Croes-Schalken on Wednesday 20 April. Go to our website for our speaker list and tickets.
