(continued from page 35)
Yet dumping at sea is by far the
cheapest and most practical solu-
tion, says Steve Preston, director
of Heerema Engineering in the U.K.,
the company which installed 75 per-
cent of the North Sea's 400 plat-
forms. Heerema has removed small
rigs from the Gulf of Mexico and the
Dutch sector of the North Sea.
"Deep-sea burial is the preferred
option," said Mr. Preston. "Remov-
ing the rigs and cutting them up
piecemeal on land is too costly," he
continued, recommending a deep-
water site found off the coast of
Greenland. "In the Gulf of Mexico,
American operators towed away doz-
ens of obsolete rigs and sank them in
deep water where they became arti-
ficial reefs, greatly enhancing ma-
rine life," he added.
Mr. Preston informed the Off-
shore Northern Seas Conference in
Stavanger three weeks ago that the
multi-billion rig removals market
predicted to emerge in the mid-Nine-
ties was unlikely to arrive until 2000
and beyond.
"My view is that the market won't
happen unless changes are made to
industry legislation to allow opera-
tors to reduce costs," he told del-
egates. "Platform owners will use
the cost argument against disposal,
claiming the task is too expensive or
technically difficult." Instead, Mr.
Preston thinks Heerema "will start
bidding for removal contracts in four
to five years time." But until then,
he says, removals will be a rare
event.
Mr. Preston points out that un-
der present IMO regulations, U.K.
taxpayers and the predominantly
American operators face an even
bigger bill in the British sector than
Norway.
In the deeper, northern fields such
as Brent, Magnus and Murchison,
the cost of cutting up the steel plat-
forms will be $100 million each, or
$60 million for the shallower, south-
ern rigs. Analysts currently dis-
count any trade-off in scrap steel or
a market in second-hand platforms.
Since 1986, London analysts
County Natwest WoodMac have
undertaken regular reviews of rig
decommissioning costs in Europe.
"One day," says its latest report,
"more British civil servants will be
employed planning rig disposals
than planning new oilfields."
However, WoodMac's reports
have been sharply criticized by oil
industry executives who say the
dates are premature and costs esti-
mates excessive. WoodMac's
Stephen Halliday now predicts
that the main period for rig removal
will be 2005 to 2015, suggesting that
new ways will be found to extend the
life of existing platforms.
In the Norwegian sector, the day
of reckoning might be postponed if
the Statfjord and Gullfaks oil plat-
forms are linked to new fields and
become part of the oil processing
and transport infrastructure.
But not forever, comments Mr.
Fjellsa of the Norwegian Petroleum
Directorate. "In any case," he says,
"the platforms cannot be left in place
and they will eventually deteriorate
and collapse "
Since 1979 the Statfjord field, the
jewel in Norway's crown, has yielded
Nkrl75 billion ($29.4 billion) in rev-
enue, a vital element in maintain-
ing Norwegian living standards. In
the 1980s the siting of Stafford's
giant rigs were events of national
jubilation, but it is doubtful whether
their removal will be a cause for
much celebration.
Union Bay Shipbuilding
Completes Rebuild
Of Aleutian Rover
Union Bay Shipbuilding re-
cently completed adding eight feet
of beam to the 96-foot crab fishing
vessel Aleutian Rover. The addi-
tional beam was added in the form
of two four foot wide sponsons,
each containing fuel and ballast
tanks and voids. The sponsons
were installed over the entire
length of the vessel. A deck locker
was constructed in the starboard
fo'c'sle sponson, while the port
fo'c'sle accommodations and bait
freezer were expanded into the
port sponson. The engine room
was expanded into each sponson,
providing foundations for pumps,
compressors and parts stowage.
Union Bay lofted each piece of
steel in preparation for numerical
burning. The precut parts were
then assembled into modules which
were installed on the vessel in the
shipyard's sidetrack facility. Argo-
naut Marine assisted with the nu-
merical lofting, while the steel parts
were cut at Farwest Steel's, Eugene,
Ore., facility. The use of numerical
lofting and preassembled modules
minimized the time the vessel was
in the shipyard and off the fishing
grounds.
The Aleutian Rover following rebuilding at Union
Bay Shipbuilding.
While in the yard, modifications
were made to the vessel's rudder
and bilge, exhaust, fuel, hydraulic,
refrigeration and sea water circula-
tion systems. The fish holds were
expanded into existing wing tanks.
Harris Electric installed a Digi-
Con ELF-160 electronic tank level
monitoring system.
For further information on the
capabilities and facilities of Union
Bay Shipbuilding,
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7527 NE 33rd Dr.
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