Logistics company NorSea UK, of Aberdeen, has teamed up with two other firms to launch what is claimed to be Scotland’s first dedicated subsea decommissioning “hub”.
The new joint venture, NorSea Decom, is solely concerned with the safe and compliant management of decommissioned subsea infrastructure and waste logistics.
NorSea UK’s partners in the project are Banff-based management consultancy Robertson–Integrated Energy Support (Robertson-IES) and newly-incorporated Aberdeen firm CRSmith Decom and Norm Services.
The move is expected to deliver more business for NorSea UK’s large Peterhead base, which has benefited from recent investment worth more than £2 million.
Project-based activity at NorSea Decom will be led by NorSea UK country manager Karen Russell, Robertson-IES managing director and ex-NorSea UK MD Walter Robertson, and former Scotoil Services managing director Craig Smith, owner of CRSmith Decom and Norm Services.
Ms Russell said: “As the UK oil and gas industry enters its fifth decade, it’s important that we simultaneously embrace traditional and emerging markets to bolster sustainability.
“This new venture will use the expertise we have gathered in the past to secure our future, with a vertically-integrated, fundamentally local supply chain at the heart of operations.”
Mr Robertson said: “The business will focus on supporting operators and marine contractors with a unique service which will manage the complete onshore scope of work, from receipt of potentially contaminated subsea structures through cleaning and size reduction before being transported to their final repurposing/re-use location.
“Transporting large structures, which have been submerged for decades, is a technical exercise demanding focus, commitment and compliance with specialist waste management legislation. As the decommissioning sector continues to grow in the decades to come, NorSea Decom will be a dedicated specialist and relationship-based contractor which will provide the operator or principal contractor with a single, integrated onshore solution for redundant subsea infrastructure and designated wastes.”
Mr Smith added: “Acting as management contractor for all onshore activities, we will optimise costs, simplify the process and professionally deliver safe and compliant working practices to ensure we protect our customers reputation.”
NorSea UK has been in Peterhead since 2014. Its facilities on Smith Quay and Merchants Quay provide laydown and processing areas totalling more than 322,000 sq ft.