Ninian North decommissioning continues with topsides removal

Decommissioning work on Canadian Natural Resources International’s Ninian North platform in the North Sea continues as Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit heavy lift vessel performed a single-lift removal of the 14,200-tonne topsides.

Ninian North, 160 km northeast of Shetland Islands, comprised topsides modules for drilling, production, and accommodation, supported by an eight-legged jacket standing in 140 m of water. The steel legs were cut during a second phase of preparations in 2019. Pioneering Spirit will return to Ninian field in summer 2022 to remove the supporting jacket structure.

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

The lift concludes months of offshore works to prepare the platform for single-lift removal. The topsides will be delivered to the Peterson-Veolia yard in Dales Voe, Shetland, for disposal. The facility will target over a 97% reuse-recycle ratio.

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