Enabling partnerships: collaboration for cross-sector success

Driving efficiency, safety and innovation in offshore operations through strategic collaboration.

In the dynamic and challenging offshore industry, successful project execution relies heavily on strategic partnerships between Tier 1 or 2 contractors and their back-deck services suppliers. The collaboration between DOF and MDL serves as a prime example of how early engagement, open communication and forward planning can drive significant benefits for end clients and the industry at large.

Enhancing efficiency and safety in decommissioning

Decommissioning is a challenging sub-sector of the Oil & Gas industry, due to the risk-to-reward ratio, with no commercial gains following the operations, but a range of hazards associated with retrieval and scrappage of old infrastructure which had spent a considerable time subsea. However, many of these scopes are non-negotiable, with the field owners committed to performing these end-of-life scopes as stipulated in their licences or other contractural agreements with the State.

It is scopes like this where efficiency of operations can significantly swing the budget and therefore the success of the project. At the same time, it has to go together with safe handling, due to the age of the infrastructure, and potentially compromised integrity of the subsea pipes, which - when damaged offshore - can have detrimental effects on assets, people and environment.

This was demonstrated on the Buchan Hannay decom project. Utilising an MDL 2-track tensioner, DOF retrieved 12 kilometres of rigid pipeline, including Water Injection, Gas Lift and Production Pipelines, from depths of approximately 115 meters. The Failsafe Grip System ensured constant hold of the product, while the tensioner’s compact design means that it can be easily mobilised on an AHTS or a barge – the project vessel and the considered option, respectively.


Enabling SURF installations in challenging locations

In Angola, the partnership between DOF and MDL continues to bear fruit in progressing SURF operations in the country, through a back-deck equipment spread that can be quickly mobilised onboard the Skandi Seven. This package – proven over the last 24 months and counting – is one of the enabling steps to improve West Africa’s domestic energy production, in a bid to reduce the continent’s electric poverty.

By re-deploying familiar assets – in this case the MDL-designed Reel Drive System and the 4-track tensioner, DOF is able to leverage existing deck plans and mobilisation methodologies, to minimise engineering costs on this ongoing campaign. The synergy between DOF and MDL facilitates efficient problem-solving and optimised operations, underlining the value of using experienced teams and proven equipment to protect project schedules, particularly in locations where access to specialist vessels may be limited.

Collaboration to facilitate just energy transition

The success stories of DOF and MDL highlight the benefits of early engagement and forward planning in offshore projects. By involving back-deck service suppliers like MDL from the planning stages, contractors can ensure that all aspects of the project are aligned for optimal efficiency and safety. Open conversations and a partnership-like approach enable the identification of project efficiencies but also challenges that may come up along the way – and allows the project to identify a solution ahead of time.

This is evident in the focus given to the future green powerhouse: floating offshore wind, which carries huge potential, once the energy players overcome the array of limitations that threaten to delay its development. DOF and MDL are already looking at ways they can play their part in progressing FOW against the backdrop of a global shortage of construction vessels. By applying all of the learnings from repeat collaboration and each company’s unique benefits to a flexible lay and retrieval project, they are able to offer a viable alternative for mooring line installations and inter-array cable lay – using portable technology on vessels of opportunity. Read more on this approach.

The importance of early engagement and forward planning

The collaboration between DOF and MDL demonstrates the tangible benefits of a strategic partnership in the offshore industry. From enhancing safety and efficiency in decommissioning to optimising SURF installations and preserving valuable assets, the integrated efforts of a Tier 1 or 2 contractor and their back-deck services supplier can deliver superior results. This partnership model not only benefits the end client, but also sets a benchmark for industry standards, driving progress and innovation in offshore operations. By fostering such partnerships, the offshore industry can continue to achieve excellence in project execution, ensuring the safe, efficient and cost-effective delivery of complex offshore projects.