Star Energy salvage operation
(09/28/2009)
A jack-up rig in the Southern North Sea, was making preparations to abandon the Esmond 43/13a-5 well. During this operation the 30”casing pipe was cut to retrieve it. While pulling the 30”casing something went wrong and the casing and Texas Deck (auxiliary deck suspended below the rig floor) were lost and sank to the bottom of the sea.  April 2009 Mammoet Salvage was awarded the salvage contract for the recovery of the Texas Deck and 30” casing.
Location : North Sea, UKCS quad 43 block 13
Casing : 67 m, diameter 30”, weight 30.5 tons
Texas Deck: 6 sections with lengths up to 13.20 m, total weight 22 tons
To recovere the lost items we chartered a diving support vessel equipped with a deck crane and fitted it out with a diving spread, 8-strong dive team and a Tiger ROV. Once on site the deck and casing were quickly located by the ROV.
To facilitate handling the casing had to be cut in 6 m and 12 m lengths and the Texas deck in 4 sections. Once the cutting operations were finished we first retrieved part of the deck to free the casing. After that we retrieved 7 lengths of casing and 2 deck sections. Due to poor weather conditions we then had to return to port. We returned two days later and retrieved the remaining items in one day. The expertise and hard work of the ship’s crew and dive team were essential for the success of this project.
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