The dismantled platform, weighing around 4000 t, is the largest ever dismantled and reused in Malaysia, with part of its structure already located on the seabed, where it will serve as a support for the creation of artificial reefs.
Sarens, on behalf of Marine Masters, used 16 units of 450/650 t strand jack combinations to lower the Mobile Offshore Application Barge onto the barge on which the topside was loaded, in what is now the first task of this type carried out by the APAC division.
Located 130 km off the coast of West Malaysia, this platform was in service from August 2005 until its closure in September 2019.
Sarens, world leader in heavy lifting, engineered transport and crane rental services, has been a key player in the decommissioning of the South Angsi Alpha (SAA) platform, located in Block PM 305 approximately 130 km from Terengganu, on the west coast of Malaysia. This platform comprised a four-legged, 3927 t Mobile Offshore Application Barge (MOAB) that had contributed to oil production for more than 14 years.
On behalf of Marine Masters, Sarens assisted in lowering the MOAB onto a barge positioned approximately 10 metres below, using a combination of 16 units of 450/650 t strand jacks. This was the first time Sarens APAC had worked on a decommissioning task using a strand jack solution, so a significant amount of preliminary study was required to meet all the necessary requirements to meet the safety standards of the process, while ensuring that no downtime occurred.
Once the main platform had been lowered, the topside, the 13 conductors and their four support legs were separated. The topside was transported to the coast at the Labuan Shipyard, where the loose elements were unloaded. Meanwhile, the ENA WB400 work barge was decommissioned, and the two transport barges were moved to their decommissioning ports. The platform's substructure was sunk to the seabed, at a depth of approximately 70 m, where it will serve as a structure for the creation of artificial reefs. This platform has thus become the largest decommissioned offshore infrastructure to be reused in Malaysia.
This platform came into operation on August 14th 2005, 29 months after the discovery of the South Angsi Alpha field. It remained in operation until its closure in September 2019. The floating storage and offloading vessel was decommissioned almost a year later, in March 2020, while the two-phase wells plugging and abandonment campaign was completed in August 2022.
Sarens has extensive experience in the international oil and gas sector. Together with McDermott, the company took part of the heavy lifting and load out operations at Jabel Ali as well as at Battam for Saudi Aramco’s Marjan Field Package 1. Sarens has also collaborated in projects such as the construction of several offshore jackets to increase QFAB's liquified natural gas production and the expansion of the Al Shaheem offshore oil field in Qatar, as well as the upgrade and improvement works of PT Pertamina refinery in Balikpapan, Indonesia.