Green light for Saipem to restart pipelaying off Australia after vessel incident

Following the offshore trunkline installation incident at the end of January, Italian oilfield services provider Saipem has received approval from the Australian Commonwealth regulator National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) that the Castorone vessel may resume pipelaying operations. 

Saipem announced on January 30 that an incident had occurred on the Castorone pipelay vessel off the waters of Australia during normal pipelaying operations.

The incident did not cause injuries to personnel and the vessel did not sustain any major damages, however, localized damage to the trunkline was sustained.

The Italian company has now reported that NOPSEMA had approved the restart of Castorone operations.

Saipem noted it was working closely with its client for a restart of the pipelaying operations, with safety as the top priority.

According to Australian media, the incident occurred at Woodside’s $18 billion Scarborough gas project and the Australian energy giant paused the installation of an offshore gas pipeline after an incident had ripped a gaping hole in the pipeline.

Saipem was awarded the Scarborough contract in January 2022

Located approximately 375 kilometers off the coast of Western Australia, the Scarborough field’s development will include the installation of a floating production unit with eight wells drilled in the initial phase and thirteen wells drilled over the life of the field. The gas from the Scarborough field will be processed at the Pluto LNG facility, where Pluto Train 2 is being constructed.