M.A.R.S. Chosen for Sustainable Recycling of EnQuest’s Heather Alpha Topsides
Heather Alpha – Credit: Allseas (file image)
Offshore installation and decommissioning services firm Allseas has awarded Modern American Recycling Services Europe (‘M.A.R.S.’) a contract for project management and engineering, receipt with load-in assistance, dismantling, and disposal of EnQuest’s Heather Alpha topsides
Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit vessel will remove the near 13,000-ton Heather topsides in a single lift operation. Preparations for the lift will begin next year, with the lift itself scheduled for 2025.
In the subsequent years, M.A.R.S. will recycle the platform in compliance with international, national, and local rules and regulations, the company said.
EnQuest awarded the Heather topsides removal contract to Allseas in October 2022.
The Heather field and its associated Heather Alpha platform are located about 94 kilometers northeast of Shetland, at a depth of 143 meters.
Heather and Broom are two nearby North Sea oil fields that were produced through Heather Alpha, a fixed steel offshore platform, with Broom connected via a subsea tieback.
In February 2020, EnQuest confirmed it would not restart production from the Heather field after production was shut down in late 2019.
EnQuest filed its decommissioning program for the Heather Alpha platform topsides to the UK authorities in April 2021. The plan was approved in July of the same year.
