AqualisBraemar LOC has completed its assignment in connection with the decommissioning and removal campaign of ExxonMobil’s Sable project off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.

AqualisBraemar LOC secured the job for ExxonMobil in 2017 as marine warranty surveyor. The company had to ensure the safe removal and transatlantic transportation of seven platforms including topsides and jackets with a combined total weight in excess of 45,000 mt.

AqualisBraemar LOC’s Canadian operation led and executed the job. The team completed the work with support from the group’s global decommissioning team including the UK, for the load-in operations.

The group spent over 6,000 hours on the project, with the majority executed in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic.

Heerema’s Thialf did the heavy lifting

To remind, at the end of last year, Heerema’s semi submersible crane vessel, Thialf, completed the eight month long campaign to remove the Sable project’s offshore facilities.

Thialf, arrived in Canada in early April. The vessel mobilized to the Sable field on May 1 to begin executing a sequence of separate lifts of platform components using a reverse-installation method.

The last shipment reached the UK in early 2021. AqualisBraemar LOC informed that 99% of the material will be recycled.

A complex project

“Sable was a large and complex project in that it consisted of seven platforms and subsea infrastructure at five different locations. Our global reach enabled us to provide a seamless transition of expertise, supporting the removal activities and load-in operations across the Atlantic, despite significant restrictions imposed by COVID-19,” sai Ewan Browell, Head of AqualisBraemar LOC’s Canadian operations.

The Sable Offshore Energy Project was developed in the late 1990s. The project produced more than two trillion cubic feet of natural gas and liquids. Production finished on December 31, 2018.

Sable reduced Nova Scotia’s reliance on coal and heavy fuel oil as primary energy sources.