(WO) – Energean UK has hired Swedish survey company Njord Survey to carry out post-decommissioning seabed surveys at the Wenlock, Garrow and Kilmar gas fields in the UK Southern North Sea. The surveys will record the condition of the seabed after removal of the platforms and exposed subsea infrastructure. Results will be compared with pre-decommissioning surveys and will form part of Energean’s close-out reporting to the regulator for the three fields.
The work covers the pipeline routes and former platform locations. It includes multibeam echosounder and side scan sonar surveys, environmental sampling and analysis, and video transects and still photos. Garrow, Kilmar and their pipelines lie within the Southern North Sea Special Area of Conservation, an important habitat for harbor porpoises.
Njord Survey will use its own vessels, survey spread and full-time employees for the work. The company says its vessels, built for geophysical surveys, environmental sampling and light ROV work, can cut project CO₂e emissions by up to 90%.
“We also want to credibly show that we have left a clear seabed and that our decommissioning operations have had no long-term impact on the seabed environment,” said Andrew Shepherd, head of decommissioning at Energean UK.
“Decommissioning is only finished when it has been shown that the seabed is clear, and that proof has to stand up in front of the regulator,” said Martin Wikmar, CEO of Njord Survey. “The UK is our largest market, and this contract is an important step for us in the North Sea decommissioning sector.”
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