North Sea operator CNR is continuing the operation to stablise the Petrojarl Banff FPSO after two of the installation’s anchors were damaged in stormy seas.
Production remains shutdown aboard the Teekay owned vessel which came back into service in 2014 nearly three years after a previous storm damaged its anchors and led to fears the facility would collide with the storage tanker the Apollo Spirit storage tanker.
The Petrojarl Banff underwent turret modification and a new anchor winch was installed whilst other structures were reinforced.
CNR said the anchor handling vessel Normand Ranger has secured a line to the Banff – located 190km east of Aberdeen – overnight.
The company said it could not confirm the cause of the loss of anchor tension in this latest incident, nor whether a similar incident was likely to happen the next time extreme weather conditions occur in the North Sea.
A company spokeswoman said: “CNR and Teekay will establish the exact nature of the situation once both anchor lines are secured and a visual survey has been completed. Once this has been determined a decision will be made about production.”
CNR confirmed there had been no structural damage to the FPSO.
Three anchor handling vessels have been mobilised, one of which has connected to the Petrojarl Banff to help with position keeping. The two further vessels will begin with the operation to re–tension the two anchor lines.
All 44 personnel on board the Banff are safe and there has been no reported impact on the environment.
Approximately 8,500 barrels of oil per day are produced by the Banff and Kyle fields.
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