July 28 - Damen Shipyards Group has launched its new Damen Decommissioning Series of ships, which are designed for removal services in the oil and gas decommissioning sector.
"This research started off with the idea of developing a decommissioning vessel based on Damen's existing portfolio," said one of Damen's recent interns, Justin Rietveld, who was part of the team responsible for designing the new vessels.
He explained that the team soon discovered that there are many different activities within the decommissioning sector, and decided to come up with a vessel design that could support many of those operations.
"This ship will be able to reverse up to a jacket, where it will be ballasted to sink below the platform. Upon deballasting, the vessel will rise up to pick up the platform," he noted.
The preliminary estimations of the vessel's capabilities suggest that it will be able to perform decommissioning of fixed platforms weighing up to 1,600 tonnes, according to Damen.
The vessel is also designed to cater for modular additions, such as the installation of a crane or helideck. Damen suggested that a temporary platform could also be added to the ship, which could be used for transporting and installing monopiles and foundations for the offshore wind industry.
An artist's impression of the new Damen decommissioning vessel.
