James Fisher Decommissioning’s SEABASS system gets recognised at Decom Week 2023

Last month, James Fisher Decommissioning (JF Decom) attended Decom Week, an event held annually in Aberdeen by Decom Mission in partnership with ASCO, Bureau Veritas Marine and Offshore, and JF Decom.

Decom Week brings together experts from across the spectrum of decommissioning to discuss factors influencing change in the industry, to share sector intelligence and to recognise ground-breaking work being undertaken by companies of all sizes and specialisms.

This year’s theme was ‘Climate of Change: Opportunities in Decommissioning’ and JF Decom had the honour of being recognised with the ‘Innovation in Decommissioning Award’ by Decom Mission – the only independent trade association focussed on the international decommissioning energy sector. The award recognises an energy company which over the course of a year has developed an innovative solution to a ‘late life’ or decommissioning problem or project, which has resulted in material benefits such as improved safety, high-impact technical, commercial or contractual solutions, or the deployment of risk reduction techniques.

JF Decom received the award for its latest innovation in well plug and abandonment, SEABASS. Created to improve on current market well abandonment tools and to provide a cost effective and quicker alternative to rig-based solutions, SEABASS has many key advantages over existing methods that will reduce operational risk and project down time. A recent addition to JF Decom’s range of solutions, the system passed its factory acceptance tests in October of last year and successfully completed its first project in December. The system is designed to fit the needs of JF Decom’s customers, giving them the peace of mind that their wells will be successfully plugged and abandoned, and the seabed left in its natural state.

Richard Henderson, Director of Engineering at JF Decom, says:

In addition to other benefits, the system is designed to deliver time savings of up to 25 percent when compared to competing solutions, thanks to a reduced operational period. This is essential for risk-based abandonment activities and has the additional benefit of decreasing a project's carbon footprint, which is reflective of James Fisher’s commitment to HSEQ and sustainability.