Seajacks Kraken to Work for NAM and Shell UK

Seajacks Kraken, a self-propelled jack-up vessel owned and operated by Seajacks, has been contracted by NAM (Nederlandse Aardoliemaatschappij BV) and Shell UK Limited to work on one of the largest well repair and maintenance campaigns in the Southern North Sea. The program is scheduled to last for two years.

Seajacks Kraken was mobilized for the project at the Port of Ijmuiden (Netherlands) in early December where the vessel was commissioned with a complete well servicing package. The vessel then sailed to its first location in the Dutch Sector of the North Sea, Platform L13-FE, on December 21 2011.

The scope of well repair and maintenance work will see the vessel visit nearly 50 platforms and perform tasks such as coiled tubing interventions, installation of velocity strings, as well as well testing and well head maintenance. This campaign is expected to extend the life of some wells by up to 10 years.

Ante Frens, responsible for NAM and Shell’s offshore activities in Southern North Sea said: “This cooperation is a key example of our activities to extend the fieldlife of our offshore facilities. We are continuously applying new innovative technologies to produce more gas out of existing fields and we are looking for opportunities to exploit new small gas fields. Through the new contract with Seajacks Kraken we are looking to further reduce costs and work more efficiently.”

Blair Ainslie, Managing Director at Seajacks said:

“We are clearly delighted that NAM and Shell have chosen to execute this well recovery and maintenance campaign in the Southern North Sea with the Seajacks Kraken. It is the realisation of over 10 years work to bring the Kraken, a self-propelled multi-purpose jack-up, to the North Sea Oil and Gas sector. Self-propulsion and self-positioning brings an abundance of interface efficiency savings for the oil and gas sector. Kraken’s DP2 four thruster set-up eliminates the use of tugboats and anchor handling, this not only provides cost savings but as the vessel is more efficient it reduces HSE risks and exposures. Kraken is also able to position, preload and jack in a larger weather window than traditional vessels, up to 2.0m significant wave height. In addition, the large accommodation block means she is able to move with all persons on board, which eliminates the need for shuttling of around 50 staff by helicopter, for each move. Her 300T crane and 50T auxiliary crane is also essential for the velocity string campaign as lifts can go upto 40T.”

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Offshore Nieuws Staff , January 23, 2012