Pioneering Spirit removes Tyra East and West platforms

Allseas’ heavy lift vessel Pioneering Spirit has removed the Tyra East and Tyra West integrated processing and accommodation platforms.

In early August, Allseas’ vessel Pioneering Spirit removed the 14,000-tonne and 7,780-tonne topsides at Tyra East and Tyra West as the final part of the redevelopment project’s decommissioning campaign.

In 2019, production and gas export from the field was temporarily shut-in. Since then, more than 750 people, primarily from local suppliers in Esbjerg, have prepared the platforms to be removed this summer.

Phase 1 of the Tyra decommissioning campaign was previously completed using HMC’s semi-submersible crane vessel Sleipnir. The vessel removed the topsides, including wellhead and riser platforms.

The second phase of the decommissioning campaign consisted of two main lifts of the two integrated accommodation and processing platforms at Tyra East and Tyra West.

Noreco said that both platforms were removed by Pioneering Spirit, the world’s largest construction vessel in single lifts, decreasing the offshore risk as the dismantling will be performed onshore instead of offshore. The upcoming installation of jackets will complete the 2020 offshore campaign.

The East and West topsides will be dismantled at the M.A.R.S. recycling yard in Frederikshavn, and more than 95 per cent of the old platforms are expected to be recycled. The recycling of old Tyra is to date the largest offshore recycling project carried out in Denmark.

Atle Sonesen, COO for Noreco, said: “Today marks an important milestone for Noreco and our partners in the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC) with the successful completion of the offshore decommissioning campaign.

“The operator of the DUC, Total, adapted quickly to the challenging market conditions and enabled the project to move forward, completing Phase 1 and Phase 2 based on the initial timeline“.

In a separate announcement, Allseas said that the campaign lasted for two weeks. The Pioneering Spirit in total lifted some 27,000 tonnes of steel and covered some 2,000 miles in the process.

Located 225 kilometres off the coast of Esbjerg, the Tyra facilities have been at the core of Denmark’s energy infrastructure for 30 years.

However, the field requires redevelopment due to subsidence of the depleted reservoirs, which has caused the platforms to sink. The complex project combines the removal and modification of old facilities and installation of new facilities.

Allseas’ scope covers engineering, preparation, removal, transportation, load-in to shore and disposal of the Tyra East and Tyra West topsides and jackets, integrated production facilities, monopile, and two flare jacket modules.