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Heerema removes Goldeneye’s topsides and jacket
Heerema’s giant semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV) Thialf has removed Shell’s Goldeneye wellhead platform in the North Sea
Decommissioning operations included removing the 1,280-tonne topside and 3,019-tonne jacket before transporting them to the AF Environmental Base in Norway for recycling and reuse.
Goldeneye was installed by Thialf in the central North Sea in 2003. Located 129 km northeast of Aberdeen, the platform included five platform wells in 120 m water depth with a direct tie-back via the Goldeneye pipeline to the St Fergus gas plant in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Cessation of production was granted in 2011.
The platform was removed using Heerema’s reverse installation method, starting with removing the topside in a single lift. After removal, the topside was transferred to Thialf’s deck for transportation.
The Goldeneye jacket removal involved cutting skirt piles using Deco Subsea’s internal abrasive water jet cutting techniques at 3 m below the seabed. Following which, the jacket was removed and remained suspended in Thialf’s cranes for transportation to Vats, Norway.
The Goldeneye platform has been safely set down at the AF Environmental Base yard in Vats, Norway to be dismantled for reuse and recycling. Heerema anticipates over 97% of the material will be recycled.
Thialf will now undergo yard maintenance, including modifications to the vessel’s A-frame to enable the vessel to expand its service area and operate in the Baltic and the Black Sea regions.
Shell has previously proposed repurposing the Goldeneye pipeline to allow it to transport emissions as part of the Acorn carbon-capture project based at St Fergus, Scotland.
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