AF Decom has reported that all preparation and removal works have now been completed at the Dunlin Alpha platform, as it awaits removal by the Sleipnir heavy lift vessel (HLV).
Following years of engineering and preparations, the offshore contractor mobilised in April with a crew of 290 people, in offshore rotation, onboard the HLV Thialf for the hook down preparations.
Dunlin, a 20,000-tonne platform, lies around 100 miles north-east of Shetland.
It was installed in 1977 and will now be removed after 45 years. Operator Fairfield Energy submitted its decommissioning programme for Dunlin Alpha to the UK Government in August 2018.
In a June 3 update, AF Decom said all offshore preparation activities had been safely completed within schedule, leaving the remaining Dunlin structure to be removed during a lifting campaign undertaken by Heerema Marine Contractor’s Sleipnir vessel.
Heerema confirmed the vessel had arrived on station in an update on Thursday. According to the contractor, the topsides will be removing several smaller modules before then tackling the platform’s massive module support frame with a single lift.
Once removed, more than 95% of the Dunlin topsides will be recycled and reused at AF Decom’s recycling facility in Vats, Norway.
“We would like to thank our client Fairfield Energy, and consortium partner HMC, for the excellent cooperation offshore. We are looking forward to welcoming the Sleipnir, with the remaining Dunlin Alpha structures and our client Fairfield Energy to the AF Environmental Base Vats in a few days,” said AF Decom managing director Lars Myhre Hjelmeset.
“This is not the end, but a new beginning. More than 95% of the Dunlin Alpha will be recycled and reused in a construction site near you. In a world where resources are finite and the earth’s ability to absorb carbon emissions have been depleted, the future rests on our ability to recycle and reuse resources and materials. This is our commitment.”