Morecambe Bay News

CessCon Decom,  a Scotland-based firm specializing in decommissioning of oil and gas structures, plans to launch a decommissioning hub at the Port of Aberdeen’s £400 million South Harbour expansion in Q3 2022, creating up to 50 new jobs.The new hub will be located within Crathes Quay at South Harbour and deliver dismantling, recycling, and reuse services with a key focus on subsea infrastructure. The jobs boost is expected over the next 12 months, and CessCon said it would be…

Dutch Damen Shipyards Group has delivered a Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) 1605 to offshore installation firm Allseas to support its Pioneering Spirit vessel, the largest offshore construction vessel in the world.The FCS 1605 vessel will perform fast crew and personnel transfers to and from the Pioneering Spirit. Damen secured the contract for the vessel, named Ricochet, on March 15. "The delivery was fast as a result of Damen’s practice of building its vessels in series for stock. When Allseas placed its order with Damen, the FCS 1605 was already built.

Offshore services firm Allseas said Wednesday it had removed the former DP3 gas production topsides from Spirit Energy’s Morecambe Bay development in the East Irish Sea, using the giant Pioneering Spirit vessel.This follows the removal of the adjacent DP4 topsides and subsequent transport to the UK in April. The two normally unmanned installations used to produce gas as part of Spirit Energy’s complex of eight installations in Morecambe Bay. As the field has matured, the reserves the platforms previously tapped into have been produced by the larger…

Allseas' giant heavy lift vessel Pioneering Spirit will remove the DP3 and DP4 platforms in Morecambe Bay off the U.K. for independent oil and gas operator Spirit Energy.The two normally unmanned installations used to produce gas as part of Spirit Energy’s complex of eight installations in Morecambe Bay. As the field has matured, the reserves the platforms previously tapped into have been produced by the larger, manned Central Morecambe platform nearby.The 12 wells that were connected…

Subsea services provider Bibby Offshore said it has secured a fixed term framework agreement with independent oil and gas operator Spirit Energy.Awarded in April, the two-year agreement, which follows on from a previous five-year agreement, will see Bibby Offshore carry out inspection repair and maintenance (IRM) works, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) inspection and subsea survey operations across a number of North Sea structures and pipelines.The project will utilize Bibby Offshore’s diverse fleet capabilities, including its multi-role diving and ROV support vessel, Bibby Sapphire, a Quasar M

PD&MS Group secured a trio of contracts worth more than $14 million across three major North Sea late-life projects in the last six months. The latest award for the Aberdeen-headquartered company is a multimillion-pound contract from Spirit Energy to decommission the topsides on two of its unmanned Morecambe Bay gas field drilling platforms, located in the East Irish Sea. PD&MS is currently supporting similar decommissioning projects of North Sea installations for two major operators through offshore heavy lift contractor, Allseas Group S.A.

Sparrows Group has been awarded a three-and-a-half-year extension to its inspection services contract for Stena Drilling’s global fleet of drilling vessels. The contract scope includes carrying out LOLER lifting gear surveys, potential dropped objects surveys, cargo carrying unit (CCU) and non-destructive testing (NDT) inspections as well as rig specific maintenance. As well as an extension to the contract, the scope has also been expanded to cover Stena’s entire fleet of seven vessels, including the Stena Don in Norway.

1847 - An Army-Navy force begins the siege of Veracruz, Mexico. Approximately 12,000 U.S. troops land on the beaches, along with their horses, mules, artillery, and supplies. Veracruz surrenders March 29, and the forces make their way to Mexico City. 1862 - In the first battle between ironclads, USS Monitor and CSS Virginia engage in close combat in Hampton Roads, Va. Neither side could claim victory, but it eventually ends the era of wooden ships. 1919 - The first flight from a battleship platform is made by Lt. Cmdr. Edward O. McDonnell in a Sopwith Camel from turret No.

Seabed survey company Bibby HydroMap have begun survey operations on the proposed LNG project off Morecambe Bay. The work program comprises geophysical, geotechnical and environmental surveying of the proposed pipeline route to shore and will be undertaken using a multi-vessel approach. Bibby HydroMap’s own vessels Chartwell and Eagle will perform the geophysical and environmental scope, acquiring multibeam bathymetry, side scan sonar data, sub-bottom profiler and magnetometer data, alongside benthic grab samples and visual inspection.

Gas production has begun from the Rhyl gas field in Morecambe Bay, helping to secure the future of 400 North West jobs and boost energy security for the U.K. The Rhyl field, located 39km off the coast of Barrow, was first discovered in 2009 and is wholly owned and operated by Centrica Energy. Gas from Rhyl will be produced through Centrica Energy’s existing North Morecambe platform, then come onshore to its Barrow terminal complex by pipeline for processing. This is the first…

Three recent deliveries highlight the series of offshore support vessels designed by the Offshore Ship Designers group. The VOS Pathfinder completes a series of five basic IMT955 Standby vessels built at Astilleros Zamakona, Spain, for Vroon Offshore Services. The 180 ft loa VOS Pathfinder was contracted in October to HRL Centrica for a five-year period working in the Morecambe Bay gas field. Also recently delivered are the VOS Pioneer and VOS Prospector, the first two of ten IMT 955-L Field Support Vessels building at Astilleros Zamakona, Spain for Vroon Offshore.

Six offshore workers were killed and another missing feared dead after a helicopter belonging to an Aberdeen-based firm ditched into the Irish Sea. The aircraft, carrying five Centrica employees and two crew, ditched into freezing water 25 miles off the between the Isle of Man and Morecambe Bay on the Lancashire coast. The Aerospatiale SA-365N Dauphin 2, operated by CHC Scotia Ltd, ditched close to a gas drilling plaftorm on its last journey ferrying workers back to shore. The search continued last night as hope faded for the one remaining crew. Two RAF helicopters - one from RAF Valley and one from RAF Leconfield - as well as RNLI lifeboats from Fleetwood and Barrow were also helping with the search as were several support vessels.

Centrica has awarded Aker Kvaerner's Engineering Services a contract for the recertification of pressure safety valves for its operations based out of Morecambe Bay. The contract covers the offshore facilities, which consist of nine offshore platforms, two onshore gas processing terminals at Barrow (North Morecambe and South Morecambe terminals), and the Barrow Condensate Storage Facility. The contract is for a period of five years, with extension options of 2 one year periods. The Morecambe Field is an offshore, hydrocarbon gas reservoir divided into two sections (North and South). Gas is produced through offshore facilities, which are located approximately 25 miles west of Blackpool, Lancashire.