Allseas Removes 17,200-Tonne Topsides in UK North Sea in 2026

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Allseas has announced that its vessel, Pioneering Spirit, removed the 17,200-tonne North Cormorant topsides in the UK North Sea in a single-lift operation, kicking off the 2026 lifting season. The former production platform is now safely loaded on board and is being transported to Dales Voe in the Shetland Islands, where it will subsequently be dismantled, with materials prepared for reuse and recycling.

Allseas stated that this achievement reflects years of meticulous planning, engineering expertise, and close collaboration, with its onshore and offshore teams completing a four-month offshore preparation campaign. With support from Oceanic, personnel carried out structural modifications, installation of lifting points, separation of conductors and risers, and the final severance of the topsides from the steel jacket. This marks the company's second topsides removal under a multi-year Northern North Sea decommissioning contract with TAQA UK, following the removal of the Eider Alpha platform in 2025. Under the broader programme, the total volume of offshore infrastructure removed from four TAQA platforms will exceed 120,000 tonnes.

The North Cormorant lift coincides with the tenth anniversary of Pioneering Spirit's first commercial single-lift at Yme. Allseas noted that a decade ago, this was a novel method for removing large offshore structures; today, it has become an established solution for bringing ageing infrastructure back to shore. The company stated that North Cormorant is just the beginning, and with the 2026 lifting season now underway, it will advance a diverse portfolio of projects in decommissioning, oil and gas installation, and offshore wind.

This removal marks the physical end of another long production chapter in the UK North Sea, as another offshore installation enters its final onshore phase. North Cormorant came on stream in February 1982 and, after operating for more than four decades as part of the Cormorant field development, ceased production in June 2024. Located in the northern North Sea, approximately 500 kilometres northeast of Aberdeen, the platform served as a production host for several fields, including Causeway, Fionn, Otter, and Eider, and was one of the offshore installations on which the region relied to become a major oil-producing area.