Page 3rd Cover: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 1992)

(continued from page 35)

Yet dumping at sea is by far the cheapest and most practical solu- tion, says Steve Preston, director of Heerema Engineering in the U.K., the company which installed 75 per- cent of the North Sea's 400 plat- forms. Heerema has removed small rigs from the Gulf of Mexico and the

Dutch sector of the North Sea. "Deep-sea burial is the preferred option," said Mr. Preston. "Remov- ing the rigs and cutting them up piecemeal on land is too costly," he continued, recommending a deep- water site found off the coast of

Greenland. "In the Gulf of Mexico,

American operators towed away doz- ens of obsolete rigs and sank them in deep water where they became arti- ficial reefs, greatly enhancing ma- rine life," he added.

Mr. Preston informed the Off- shore Northern Seas Conference in

Stavanger three weeks ago that the multi-billion rig removals market predicted to emerge in the mid-Nine- ties was unlikely to arrive until 2000 and beyond. "My view is that the market won't happen unless changes are made to industry legislation to allow opera- tors to reduce costs," he told del- egates. "Platform owners will use the cost argument against disposal, claiming the task is too expensive or technically difficult." Instead, Mr.

Preston thinks Heerema "will start bidding for removal contracts in four to five years time." But until then, he says, removals will be a rare event.

Mr. Preston points out that un- der present IMO regulations, U.K. taxpayers and the predominantly

American operators face an even bigger bill in the British sector than

Norway.

In the deeper, northern fields such as Brent, Magnus and Murchison, the cost of cutting up the steel plat- forms will be $100 million each, or $60 million for the shallower, south- ern rigs. Analysts currently dis- count any trade-off in scrap steel or a market in second-hand platforms.

Since 1986, London analysts

County Natwest WoodMac have undertaken regular reviews of rig decommissioning costs in Europe. "One day," says its latest report, "more British civil servants will be employed planning rig disposals than planning new oilfields."

However, WoodMac's reports have been sharply criticized by oil industry executives who say the dates are premature and costs esti- mates excessive. WoodMac's

Stephen Halliday now predicts that the main period for rig removal will be 2005 to 2015, suggesting that new ways will be found to extend the life of existing platforms.

In the Norwegian sector, the day of reckoning might be postponed if the Statfjord and Gullfaks oil plat- forms are linked to new fields and become part of the oil processing and transport infrastructure.

But not forever, comments Mr.

Fjellsa of the Norwegian Petroleum

Directorate. "In any case," he says, "the platforms cannot be left in place and they will eventually deteriorate and collapse "

Since 1979 the Statfjord field, the jewel in Norway's crown, has yielded

Nkrl75 billion ($29.4 billion) in rev- enue, a vital element in maintain- ing Norwegian living standards. In the 1980s the siting of Stafford's giant rigs were events of national jubilation, but it is doubtful whether their removal will be a cause for much celebration.

Union Bay Shipbuilding

Completes Rebuild

Of Aleutian Rover

Union Bay Shipbuilding re- cently completed adding eight feet of beam to the 96-foot crab fishing vessel Aleutian Rover. The addi- tional beam was added in the form of two four foot wide sponsons, each containing fuel and ballast tanks and voids. The sponsons were installed over the entire length of the vessel. A deck locker was constructed in the starboard fo'c'sle sponson, while the port fo'c'sle accommodations and bait freezer were expanded into the port sponson. The engine room was expanded into each sponson, providing foundations for pumps, compressors and parts stowage.

Union Bay lofted each piece of steel in preparation for numerical burning. The precut parts were then assembled into modules which were installed on the vessel in the shipyard's sidetrack facility. Argo- naut Marine assisted with the nu- merical lofting, while the steel parts were cut at Farwest Steel's, Eugene,

Ore., facility. The use of numerical lofting and preassembled modules minimized the time the vessel was in the shipyard and off the fishing grounds.

The Aleutian Rover following rebuilding at Union

Bay Shipbuilding.

While in the yard, modifications were made to the vessel's rudder and bilge, exhaust, fuel, hydraulic, refrigeration and sea water circula- tion systems. The fish holds were expanded into existing wing tanks.

Harris Electric installed a Digi-

Con ELF-160 electronic tank level monitoring system.

For further information on the capabilities and facilities of Union

Bay Shipbuilding,

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Maritime Reporter/Engineering News

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