The Ninian Northern platform consists of topsides modules for drilling, production and accommodation
Allseas’s Pioneering Spirit removes Ninian Northern platform topsides. (Credit: Allseas.)
Swiss-based offshore contractor Allseas announced that its heavy lift vessel Pioneering Spirit has removed the 14,200 tonnes Ninian Northern platform topsides in the UK northern North Sea.
The Ninian Northern platform is located in the North Sea, about 160km northeast of the Shetland Islands.
It consists of topsides modules for drilling, production and accommodation, supported by an eight-legged jacket in 140m water depth.
Allseas said that all eight steel legs were cut during the preparations last year.
The company said that the removal work, which was commissioned for the Ninian field operator CNR International, took approximately 2 hours to complete.
The single-lift removal work included connection of the vessel’s lifting beams to the platform to the lift, while ensuring environmental emissions from the removal activities to a minimum with the efficient vessel systems.
Pioneering Spirit will remove the supporting jacket structure at Ninian field in 2022
The Ninian Northern platform topsides will be delivered by the heavy lift vessel to the Peterson-Veolia yard in Dales Voe, Shetland, for disposal.
Upon transfer and load-in of the topsides at Dales Voe, it will sail to Rotterdam, the Netherlands for jacket lift system installation works and to prepare for upcoming projects.
To remove the supporting jacket structure, Pioneering Spirit will return to the Ninian field in summer 2022.
The removal work is part of Total’s $3.3bn redevelopment of the Tyra field in the Danish waters of North Sea.