New Technology Magazine

Proserv Offshore Wins Iwaki Cutting Contract, Conducts Record-Breaking Compression Test Cuts

[Daily News] Proserv Offshore has announced SapuraAcergy has awarded it the subsea cutting contract for the decommissioning of the massive Iwaki Platform jacket off the northeast coast of Japan, and that it has successfully conducted the Asia-Pacific region’s first high-load compression cuts involving more than 400 tons of compression.

“The Iwaki project, scheduled for next year, will involve some of the most sophisticated cutting operations ever carried out in the Asia-Pacific region. This contract and the high-load compression cuts we demonstrated at our base in Perth, Australia, further support our leadership in high technology cutting equipment and services throughout the region,” said Robert Finch, Proserv Offshore’s chief operating officer.

Located in 154 metres of water, the eight-legged, 20,735-metric-ton Iwaki wellhead production platform is the largest in the region slated for decommissioning. Proserv Offshore, on behalf of SapuraAcergy, will cut the jacket, weighing almost 16,000 metric tons, such that SapuraAcergy’s DP Heavy Lift vessel, the Sapura 3000, can lift and deploy to the seabed, creating an artificial reef.

Proserv Offshore’s Asia Pacific operations will supply all of the cutting equipment and services, including large diameter, 80-inch diamond wire cutting tools as well as external, internal and specialized abrasive cutting systems. These will be deployed subsea by SapuraAcergy’s remotely operated vehicles – also a regional first for this size and type of equipment.

Further demonstrating its abilities to handle difficult challenges like the Iwaki jacket, Proserv Offshore recently achieved another regional benchmark by successfully executing a cut involving more than 400 tons of compression.

Witnessed by representatives from Iwaki Petroleum, Nippon Steel and SapuraAcergy, the company’s Malaysia and Australia teams conducted two high-load compression test cuts on a 42-inch diameter tubular member at its Australian base in Perth. The pipe was compressed to 422 tons using a test fixture designed in-house and built locally.

The cut was made using a Proserv Offshore 2844 diamond wire-cutting tool.

For the Iwaki Platform jacket decommissioning, Proserv Offshore’s subsea cutting contract is with SapuraAcergy Sdn Bhd of Malaysia and its client Nippon Steel Engineering Co., Ltd, Japan. Iwaki Petroleum Co., Ltd. operates the field. The project will begin in March 2010.

Proserv Offshore leads globally in removing damaged and mature offshore structures and wellheads for major, independent and national oil companies. It applies best-in-class experience, skill and innovation to execute each phase of a project safely, economically and with minimum environmental impact, from initial planning through engineering, project management, implementation, site clearance and final asset disposal. The company offers its services across four main areas of expertise: decommissioning contractors and engineers, abandonment services, subsea and marine technology, and high pressure and ultra-high pressure pump services.