Allseas’ heavy lift vessel Pioneering Spirit has successfully completed her third and final decommissioning job of 2020, a single-lift removal of the North Sea’s 14,200 t Ninian Northern topsides for CNR International (CNRI).

Completed Friday morning, 28 August, the operation took approximately 2 hours, from connecting the vessel’s lifting beams to the platform to the lift, ensuring environmental emissions from the removal activities were kept to a minimum with the efficient vessel systems. The actual “fast lift” of the topsides took only 7 seconds.

Pioneering Spirit will now deliver the topsides to the Peterson-Veolia yard in Dales Voe, Shetland, for disposal. The facility will target over a 97% reuse/recycle ratio and create a number of jobs over the period the topsides is dismantled.

The lift successfully concludes several months of offshore works to prepare the platform for single-lift removal. Located in the North Sea, 160 km northeast of the Shetland Islands, the Ninian Northern platform comprised topsides modules for drilling, production and accommodation, supported by an eight-legged jacket standing in 140 m water depth. The eight steel legs were cut during a second phase of preparations in 2019.

Pioneering Spirit will return to the Ninian field in summer 2022 to remove the supporting jacket structure.

After transfer and load-in of the Ninian Northern topsides at Dales Voe, the vessel will sail to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for Jacket lift system installation works and to prepare for upcoming projects. 

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Allseas