BOP Recovery for International Drilling Contractor

Project Date
February 2019

Project Highlights
A subsea blowout preventer (BOP) for a privately held oil and gas E&P company unexpectedly detached, damaging a subsea tree in 3,000 ft water depth. The BOP was 70% buried in the seabed, limiting access to feasible lift points.

 

Project Scope of Work
The statement of work was to safely and efficiently recover the BOP to deck and, upon inspection and modifications, lift the structure to a barge for seafastening and transport to shore.

 

Challenges
Under Hydra supervision, dredging operations were conducted in order to excavate sections of the BOP for extraction. Given the lack of a suitable lift point, a sling was thread under an exposed section of the BOP, which provided a basketed rigging arrangement for recovery.

 

Using engineers and materials contracted by Hydra, the BOP was lowered onto a purpose-built structural deck grillage to perform on-site modifications to the unit. A dual crane lift was required to upend the 60’ tall structure and install it onto a modified transport skid.

 

While the original plan called for the BOP to be transported in two sections, complications with disassembling the BOP resulted in the decision to leave it in a single piece. Hydra called for a management of change and modified the transport barge loadout and seafastening design to accommodate the revised configuration for a successful transit to shore.

 

Why Hydra
Recognizing our subsea expertise, highly trained team and vast network of resources, the international drilling contractor engaged Hydra to stage a recovery of the BOP.

 

Location

  • Region: Gulf of Mexico
  • General Project Location: Green Canyon
  • Specific Project Coordinates: 27°43’N, 90°47’W
  • Water Depth: 3,000 ft.

 

Vessel

  • Primary Installation Vessel: Heerema Balder
  • Support Vessel: HOS Warland
  • Facility Type: N/A

 

Project Details

  • Primary Service Provided: BOP Recovery
  • Secondary Service Provided: Construction and Installation
  • Duration of Project: 12 days
  • Total Manhours: 16,776
  • Crew Size: 121
  • Crew Disciplines: Barge Seafastening, Vessel Crew, Project Manager, Client, Owner
  • Lost Time Incidents: 0
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