Large scale cutting solution used in Asia-Pacific region

Project overview

Claxton*, a cutting and decommissioning brand in Acteon’s Energy Services division was awarded a major subsea cutting contract for the decommissioning of a platform off the North-East coast of Japan. Situated in 154 m (505 ft) of water, the eight-legged, 20,735 tonne (22,856 ton US) platform was the largest in the region scheduled for decommissioning.

The solution

Claxton supplied all the cutting equipment and services required, which included:

Jetcut water abrasive cutting systems:

• 2 complete spread of Jetcut Systems
• 2 Internal Pile Cutter (IPC)
• 2 Saddle Pipe Cutter (SPC2442)
• Launch Runner Cutting Tool (LRCT)
• Vertical Cutting Tool (VCT)

Diamond wire cutting systems:

• 2 complete spread of DWCS
• 2 DWS 6280
• 1 DWS 1230
• 1 DWS 2844
• 1 DWS 0814

Friction disc cutter:

• Remote friction disc cutter

Whilst some of the tooling already existed, Claxton had to develop the 24 – 42 inch saddle pipe cutter, launch runner cutting tool and 62 – 80 inch diamond wire cutting tool. Each of these tools had to meet demanding design parameters set by the customer which included fully integrated fly-to-place capabilities with their work class ROVs. All the new tooling was designed and developed within 14 weeks using Claxton’s in-house engineering and manufacturing capability.

Initial trials of the tooling took place at Claxton’s regional facilities in Australia, Malaysia, the UK and Norway. Site Integration Tests also took place on board the customer supplied heavy lift vessel (HLV).

Part of the extensive trial process completed during the testing of the cutting tools was to perform a diamond wire cut using our 62 – 80 inch tool on a full scale mock of the platform leg c/w launch runner under the compressive loads of 560 tonnes. This simulated the loading that the leg would be under during the actual offshore cuts. Once the trials were complete, the equipment was prepared at each regional base and mobilised to the HLV so the cutting operations could commence.

Throughout this process Claxton supervised the entire cutting operation which was deployed using ROV’s.

The result

A total of 34 structural cuts were performed which were completed successfully for the customer on time and within budget.

Claxton has a full range of proven subsea and marine tooling capable of fly-to-place ROV operation strategically placed in our regions globally.

“This project involved some of the most sophisticated cutting operations ever carried out in the Asia-Pacific region”.

*At the time of this project, Proserv FTS was contracted to perform the work. Proserv FTS has since been acquired by Claxton Engineering Services Ltd.