Giant Jack-Up Vessel Newbuild Starts Decom Work for Perenco in North Sea
Petrodec’s newly constructed heavy lift jack-up vessel, named Obana, has started decommissioning work in the Southern North Sea for Perenco.
Obana is working on the decommissioning of the Galahad platform, after which it will move to the Amethyst field for the removal of the C1D, A2D and B1D jackets, expected to be completed and offloaded in the Netherlands later in 2025.
Obana is the world’s largest self-elevating, heavy lift jack-up vessel of its type. Following the completion of final trials, including its first offshore full platform lift, Obana has now started its commercial operations with Perenco, before moving onto contracts with other operators.
Recently completed at the Damen Shipyard in Rotterdam, the six-legged Obana comprises 85% recycled steel and was engineered by merging two repurposed former drilling rigs, the Brage and Gabrus, with a newbuilt mid-section which was constructed in Dubai.
Obana was built specifically to address complex and heavy decommissioning offshore work, in water depths of up to 65 meters.
It is equipped with a 2,000-tonne crane and has 3,800m² and up to 12,000 tonnes of deck capacity equipped with roller systems capable of rearranging components on deck, so that multiple modules can be removed in a single campaign.
The design was a collaboration between Petrodec, Dixstone’s specialist decommissioning arm, and Singapore-based Seatrium Offshore Technology.
“The deployment of the state-of-the-art Petrodec Obana heavy lift jack-up vessel to Galahad, and then to Amethyst, are further milestones in our ongoing decommissioning programme. Having already dismantled 26 offshore structures, we are committed to continuing our track record of effective and efficient decommissioning, exercising diligent stewardship of one of the largest networks of owned and operated gas assets in the UK North Sea,” said Jo White, Managing Director of Perenco UK’s Perenco UK's Southern North Sea business.
