Offshore staff
GREAT YARMOUTH, UK – NAM and Shell UK have contracted the self-propelled Seajacks Kraken vessel for a two-year campaign of well repairs and maintenance in the southern North Sea.
The vessel, owned and operated by Seajacks, was mobilized for the project last month from the port of Ijmuiden on the Dutch coast. It was commissioned with a complete well servicing package, sailing to its first location in the Dutch sector L13-FE platform on Dec. 21.
SeajacksKraken will visit nearly 50 platforms and perform tasks including coiled tubing interventions, installation of velocity strings, well testing, and wellhead maintenance. This campaign is designed to extend the life of some wells by up to 10 years.
Ante Frens, responsible for NAM and Shell’s offshore activities in the southern North Sea said: “We are continuously applying new innovative technologies to produce more gas out of existing fields and we are looking for opportunities to exploit new small gas fields. Through the new contract with SeajacksKraken we are looking to further reduce costs and work more efficiently.”
Blair Ainslie, Seajacks managing director, said of the multi-purpose vessel: “Self-propulsion and self-positioning brings an abundance of interface efficiency savings for the oil and gas sector.Kraken’s DP-2 four thruster set-up eliminates the use of tugboats and anchor handling, this not only provides cost savings but as the vessel is more efficient it reduces HSE risks and exposures.
“Kraken is also able to position, preload, and jack in a larger weather window than traditional vessels - up to 2.0 m [33 ft] significant wave height. In addition, the large accommodation block means she is able to move with all persons on board, which eliminates the need for shuttling of around 50 staff by helicopter, for each move. Her 300-ton crane and 50-ton auxiliary crane is also essential for the velocity string campaign as lifts can go up to 40-tons.”
01/26/2012
