Pioneering Spirit to remove 2 gas production platforms in East Irish Sea

Allseas’ heavy lift vessel Pioneering Spirit will remove two disused gas platforms from the East Irish Sea, in Morecambe Bay, for client Spirit Energy. It is Pioneering Spirit’s first lift assignment outside the North Sea.

Final preparations for Spirit Energy’s DP3 and DP4 installations are underway in Morecambe Bay where the world’s largest construction vessel will operate in just 22 m water depth to pull out the two 11,000 tonne platforms and transport to shore for recycling.

Working just 40 km off the coast of Blackpool, northwest England, the strong currents and shallow depths will provide a very different challenge for the vessel’s single-lift capability.

Ongoing preparations include the cutting and removal of risers, caissons and conductors, cutting the platforms’ steel legs, strengthening the topsides and installing made-to-measure lift points. The job includes extensive subsea activities, such as the removal of mattresses, spools, cables and umbilicals, requiring more than 180 separate lifts by our construction support vessel Oceanic.

CessCon Decom
The platforms will be processed by Scottish CessCon Decom at their decommissioning base at Energy Park Fife in Methil. CessCon Decom will decontaminate, dismantle and recycle the topsides, as well as the jackets and subsea structures.