UK firm lands offshore rig recycling contract

Birmingham, England-based Able UK has been awarded a contract for the disposal of four offshore structures from the Shell-operated Brent Field in the North Sea.

The contract includes dismantling and scrapping three platform topsides as well as a 138-meter-high steel platform jacket, which will be transported from the Brent field to Able Seaton’s port in Teesside, United Kingdom, about 100 miles away.

“We are delighted to have been selected to undertake this significant platform decommissioning project,” says Andrew Jacques, Able UK’s managing director. “This six-year contract will see the deployment of the very latest techniques and technologies in the recycling of these materials. We are looking forward to working with our partners on this project, and we are justifiably proud to have been selected for this exciting project.”

Jacques continues, “Able Seaton Port is already a superb facility and it will see further investment from Able UK Ltd. with the construction of what will be one of Europe’s heaviest load bearing quays, along with associated infrastructure at the northern end of the dry dock to receive the structures. This will enable the topsides and jackets to be shipped to the new quay for dismantling.”

The company anticipates that more than 97 percent of the structures will be reused or recycled.