Challenge
Fairfield Energy had a plug and abandonment (P&A) tower installed on the Dunlin Alpha platform. The aging platform cranes were causing significant delays and downtime, so they approached us for a temporary lifting solution, to support wellhead operations and reduce the need for the platform cranes. The platform presented complex challenges due to its ageing assets and the platform cranes’ de-rated ship-to-platform lift capacity of 9.5te.
Solution
We supplied a rental modular 175 txm marine crane package, capable of 21.47m outreach. We provided the crane in modules that remained within the platform crane’s lifting capacity and were fully assembled in-situ by our experienced offshore technicians. To minimise use of the platform cranes during assembly, we used a spreader bar frame to lift sections into position.
The crane was installed on a skidding system and acted as an auxiliary crane to the platform’s main cranes. This helped reduce the workload of the platform’s cranes by taking on some of the day-to-day lifts and P&A-related lifting activities.
