Wireline Issue 52 Winter 2021

challenges. For example a new gas bypass line had to be laid around Brae Bravo to allow it to be removed without interrupting the supply of gas between the East Brae and Brae Alpha platforms - a sizeable scope of work for a project focused on taking infrastructure out of commission. Marathon had already enlisted a group of contractors to help carry out removal and disposal scopes, including HAF, the Heerema Marine Contractor (HMC) and AF Offshore Decom (AFOD) consortium. HMC brought with it two semi-submersible crane vessels (SSCVs), Thialf and Sleipnir , both well used to major offshore decommissioning operations. The Bravo platform itself comprises a 22,000-tonne jacket and three-tier topsides with a combined weight of 36,000 tonnes, in addition to its iconic flare tower and steel connecting bridge. The removal of the Brae Bravo topsides represents one of the largest topsides removed so far on the UKCS.

“If you think about [the accommodation module], people have lived and socialised on that for 30 years, that is a home, not just a platform.”

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