Introduction
The Foinaven field is situated approximately 120 miles west of Shetland. Production from the field was through the Petrojarl Foinaven floating, production, storage, offload (FPSO) vessel. The FPSO reached the end of its design life in 2021 and was removed for decommissioning in 2022.
Situation
Initially to be awarded as a turnkey EPIC work scope, the decision was taken to award each component of the decommissioning project to a specialist contractor.
As an established supplier of mooring equipment and management, First Marine Solutions was approached to tender for the work:
Project management and consultancy services for disconnection, tow, recovery and quayside mooring;
Engineering and creation of project deliverables for all phases;
Equipment supply and management throughout;
Offshore support during all phases.
In recognition of our consultancy and mooring capabilities, the contract was awarded to FMS in November 2021, with the planning phase commencing in December 2021.
What we did
As the successful vendor, this work scope drew upon the full spectrum of FMS capabilities:
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Marine expertise, general engineering and marine consultancy
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Development of all project deliverables and procedural documentation, including risk assessment, to satisfy client requirements
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Required equipment procurement and rental for recovery scope, tow off station and mooring scope at Hunterston PARC
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Survey and positioning equipment and personnel throughout
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Offshore personnel covering full range of roles required offshore
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Internal logistic support
How we did it
Expedited planning – an agile response
As a result of the shift from a turnkey contract award, the project’s shortened timeframe benefited from FMS’ renowned agility. Our response resulted in a timeline of less than nine months from award of scope to execution of offshore works.
Company-wide expertise
This work scope drew upon FMS’ wide-ranging in-house expertise.
A core team of six personnel was supplemented by our mariners, engineers, designers and operations personnel during various project phases, driven not only by the work scope, but by the relatively short timeframes in place.
During the six-week offshore phase, FMS provided upwards of 20 personnel offshore, including client site representatives, tow masters, shift supervisors, riggers, deck supervisors, survey and project engineers.
Results
During a six-week period of intense activity, FMS racked up 969 offshore work days. Illustrative of our ability to provide a flexible and nimble response to our clients’ requirements – whatever the schedule.
Over 4000 tonnes of equipment was recovered from seabed, with operations proceeding as planned – testimony to the comprehensive planning undertaken by our team of experts.
Key to the safe and efficient outcome of any decommissioning project is a commitment to collaboration between all parties. FMS’ significant experience in aligning with other project contractors was applied throughout this project, utilising the exemplary channels of communication created by the client.
