Sea Platform

Gas Leak Closes Visund Platform

A major natural gas leak shut down the Norwegian Visund offshore oil and natural gas platform, AP reported. No one was injured in the incident, but 17 of 91 crew members aboard were flown to a nearby North Sea platform by helicopter as a precaution when gas and fire alarms sounded. It was a major leak, but that strong winds kept the gas away from the platform itself. Gas leaks on offshore platforms can cause catastrophic explosions and fires, often far from shore, and the agency said it was investigating the incident. Visund was the sixth Statoil-operated field suffering problems this week. The total lost production is 250,000 barrels per day of oil and condensate, also called light oil, and about 50 million cubic meters of natural gas. Statoil ASA will check for any recurring problems in the various incidents. The Visund field produces about 35,000 barrels of oil and 5 million cubic meters of natural gas per day. It was not clear when production would resume. (Source: AP)

Schat-Harding to Exceed SOLAS Standards

Schat-Harding has agreed with Statoil to recall six of its FF1000S skid-launched freefall lifeboats for strengthening beyond SOLAS requirements. In service tests show that SOLAS requirements may need modifying for free fall boats for very high drop heights from some North Sea oil platforms. The move follows tests on boats installed on Statoil's Veslefrikk B platform in the North Sea. "The boat had been type approved by Lloyd's Register for a service freefall

North Sea Platform Leak: Crew Evacuated

TAQA, the global energy company based in Abu Dhabi, confirms a hydrocarbon release detected in one of the Cormorant Alplha platform legs. The hydrocarbons were discovered at 09.40 hours local UK time on Saturday, 2, March during maintenance work. The platform and all pipeline infrastructure were shut down as a precaution and the company removed 71 non-essential personnel from the platform via crew change flights, reporting everyone safe and well.

ASC Chosen for North Sea Platform

Autoship Systems Corporation (ASC) of Vancouver, Canada announced the installation of its Autoload onboard stability software on Gjøa, one of the largest projects in the North Sea today. Gjøa's recoverable reserves are approximately 82 million barrels of oil and condensate and roughly 40 billion standard cubic metres of gas. More than 200 km of pipeline are to be laid at Gjøa as well as the cable that is going to supply the platform with power from shore

Repair Job Underway at Victoria Shipyard

The Times Colonist reported that repairs started at Victoria Shipyards on a platform used to propel commercial satellites into orbit. The Odyssey Launch Platform is undergoing repairs after a failed mission damaged the vessel in January after 20 consecutive successful launches. The platform, which is 436.6 ft. long or almost one and a half football fields in length, is owned by Sea Launch, an international partnership of four American, Russian, Ukrainian and Norwegian businesses

Boeing Awards $73M Platform Contract

AMFELS Inc, a member of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), has won a $73 million firm-fixed-price contract for the modification of a platform from The Boeing Company. The SBX Platform is a self-propelled semi-submersible modified oil-drilling platform developed for the US Government’s Sea-Based Test X-Band Radar (SBX) in support of its ground-based midcourse missile defense system. Mr Tong Chong Heong, Chairman of AMFELS and Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Keppel

PSV 'Skandi Caledonia' Hire Extended, Rate Increased

Three more years North Sea hire for DOP platform supply vessel 'Skandi Caledonia' Norwegian offshore vessel owner DOF has secured a three-year contract extension with Danish operator Maersk Oil for its platform supply vessel Skandi Caledonia for work in the UK North Sea sector. The three-year option now exercised from October this year replaces an earlier one-year option, with the dayrate for the new period  - which was not disclosed - set to increase 25%.

Mars Platform Surpasses Pre-Katrina Production Levels

It took patience, ingenuity and untold millions of dollars to heal the wounds Hurricane Katrina inflicted on Royal Dutch Shell's Mars platform, the most prolific oil-producing platform in the Gulf of Mexico. But nearly a year and a half after the storm pummeled the 36,500-ton structure with 175-mph winds and 80-foot waves that left dead fish and crumpled steel on its decks, the platform has surpassed its pre-Katrina oil production levels.

Gjøa Gets its Sea Legs

During the last few days the deck and hull of the Gjøa platform have been mated together in the fjord outside the Norwegian town of Stord. There were exacting requirements for precision and weather conditions during the operation, which was a success. The four-legged hull rose from the sea in the sea off Stord and spiked the deck of the new North Sea giant, Gjøa. Four guide pins had to meet their respective slots in a deck the size of a football field

Subsea 7 Awarded Contract from Ithaca Energy

Subsea 7 Inc, has been awarded a contract by Ithaca Energy (UK) Limited for installation works in Block 12/21c of the UK Sector North Sea approximately 10.5km north east of the existing Beatrice Alpha facilities.  The contract is valued in excess of  $22m. Subsea 7 will provide project management, fabrication, installation and offshore pre-commissioning of a 10.5km production and water injection pipeline and power cable tie-back of the new Jacky platform to the Beatrice Alpha