A NORTH-EAST firm behind one of the world’s largest oil rig decommissioning projects has landed another major contract.

Able UK is to use its Seaton Port facility in Hartlepool to dismantle more gas platforms.

The project will involve the dismantlement, recycling and disposal of offshore natural gas platforms from the ExxonMobil-operated Sable Offshore Energy Project off the coast of Nova Scotia in Canada.

The first shipment of structures is scheduled to arrive at Able Seaton Port in the summer of 2020.

Peter Stephenson, Able UK executive chairman, said: “This contract reflects our reputation and the expertise we have built up over many years as leaders in the rapidly developing offshore decommissioning sector.

“The project will involve the removal of seven platforms and their jackets using one of the biggest crane vessels in the world, the Heerema Thialf, with the components being transported to Able Seaton Port in a series of barge movements.

“We expect that the onshore dismantlement, recycling and disposal work will extend over a 10-month period”

Able UK is currently disposing of the Shell-operated Brent Delta topside at its Seaton Port at the mouth of the River Tees.

The 24,200-tonne Shell Brent Delta topside arrived last May following the construction of the new multi-million-pound ASP Quay Six, one of the strongest in Europe.

Two more platforms from the Brent field are scheduled to arrive at the port, with the Brent Bravo expected in May 2019 and the Brent Alpha a year later.

The structure was one of the first to be built in the very early days of Britain’s oil and gas industry.

In 2014, the Echo reported how Able was looking to create around 200 jobs with work to dispose of North Sea offshore platforms.

The firm has been undertaking decommissioning projects over the last 30 years, with the company handling work for most major operators in the oil and gas sectors as well as the US and French Governments.

Speaking last year, Mr Stephenson said: “It has been four-and-a-half years since we got the order, and in that time we have improved the facility, with the main thing being the building of this great quay.

“Everything comes to the end of its life, this is a new method of bringing the rigs in, which we are all looking forward to.

“It is very safe and it saves a lot of people travelling offshore; that is the whole principle behind it.

“Myself and the workforce are incredibly proud.”

For more information on the work Able UK is doing in Hartlepool, visit www.ableuk.com.