Boskalis’ hybrid battery-powered vessel completes decom gig in North Sea

Dutch offshore services provider Boskalis has confirmed the end of an assignment for one of its diving support vessels (DSVs), which recently finished its first decommission work in hybrid mode.

Boskalis’ saturation divers worked on subsea infrastructure for Harbour Energy in the North Sea, where the DSV BOKA Da Vinci wrapped up the decommissioning project. The Dutch player’s vessels, BOKA Southern Ocean and BOKA Da Vinci completed nearly a year of decommissioning work in the North Sea eight months ago. 

At depths reaching 150 meters, this collaboration between Harbour Energy and Boskalis resulted in the removal of obsolete offshore structures and associated infrastructure from the seabed. The BOKA Da Vinci vessel went to the decommissioning sites to dismantle the parts of the infrastructure and prepare the heavy sections for lifting to the surface, which was expected to be done by the BOKA Southern Ocean, using the 250-ton crane.

The project enabled Boskalis to remove more than 22 kilometers of flowline and umbilical, numerous construction piles, manifolds, drilling templates, weighing up to 160 tons, and over 500 concrete mattresses, which were installed on the seabed decades ago to protect the installed cables and pipelines. 

The Dutch player highlighted that its hybrid battery-powered DSV BOKA Da Vinci utilized its dynamic positioning system (DP2) to switch from full generator use to a hybrid mode incorporating energy from newly installed batteries. 

According to the Duch company, the vessel, retrofitted with an energy storage system earlier this year, has reduced fuel consumption alongside carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by an average of up to 20%. 

This system also supports power supply and energy storage while docked, leading to quieter and more efficient operations, said Boskalis. BOKA Da Vinci’s sister vessel, DSV BOKA Atlantis, has also been retrofitted with a similar 1200 kWh battery pack, and more vessels are expected to follow suit.

“We would like to thank the crews of our vessels for their dedication,” said Boskalis in a social media post. 

In November last year, the Dutch company commissioned a large-scale shore power facility at its premises in the Waalhaven in Rotterdam, strategically built at the site where vessels come for maintenance and mobilization for offshore projects.

Since then, moored Boskalis’ vessels have been switching off their diesel-powered generators and using green shore power. Early in 2023, the Duch offshore services provider announced its commitment to reach climate neutrality across its global operations by 2050.

Harbour Energy recently made progress in closing the acquisition of Germany’s Wintershall Dear by getting the go-ahead for the transfer of four permits in Denmark, endorsed by the Danish Energy Agency (DEA), enabling the London-listed firm to expand its hydrocarbon and CO2 portfolio.