Well Abandonment / Wellhead Tethering Piles

ICON Engineering recently completed Site Integration Testing (SIT) on a spread of subsea Suction Cans and Tensioner Assemblies to assist the upcoming Plug & Abandonment (P&A) activities for an international operator in the Exmouth Sub-basin of the North West Shelf. These Suction Cans and tensioners are to be used to mitigate against potential fatigue of the wellhead whilst supporting the significant weight of the Blow Out Preventor (BOP) during well decommissioning.

The SIT marks another milestone towards delivery of the tethering system which consists of eight Suction Cans, each spanning three metres in diameter and eight metres long. The Suction Cans can be deployed and recovered using either a Construction Supply Vessel (CSV) or Anchor Handler Tug Supply (AHTS) Vessel and a Remote Operating Vehicle (ROV).

Suction Cans are a well-established method of providing a solid foundation in soft seabed conditions for subsea mechanical tensioners which are tethered to the BOP. The Suction Cans are designed to be able to be reconfigured for similar operations in the future.

ICON is responsible for the project delivery including system design and supply, transportation, installation procedures and installation support. We are proud to have been supported by Polaris Engineering in the manufacture of the Suction Cans and Trendsetter Vulcan Offshore in delivering the subsea tensioners, all within a fast-tracked timeframe.