Two workers died in May last year when the Troll Solution jack-up rig tilted due to a fault in one of its legs, offshore Mexico.
This was one of several accidents that hit the Mexican offshore oil and gas sector last year, and as the time passed, went out of the focus of general public.
However, what we know now, is that the affected jack-up not just tilted, but continued to tilt, and eventually collapsed and sank into the seabed in approximately 30 meters water depth.
After sinking, the Troll Solution came to rest within two meters from the active CAAN-A platform, where it should have carried out maintenance work before it went down.
As it turns out, it took more than a year and a half for the rig to be removed from the seabed.
Namely, Ardent, a company specializing in wreck removal and decommisioning, on Wednesday said it had removed the Troll Solution wreckage from the seabed, offshore Mexico.
The work was completed in November 2016, and, according to Ardent this was the the largest wreck removal completed in 2016.
Ardent said it had deployed assets from several countries, including the Conquest MB-1 crane barge, and a 1,000-ton hydraulic wreck grab from the Netherlands. Further support vessels were deployed from the U.S. and Mexico.
Weighing approximately 7,000 tons, the rig had to be dismembered to be removed. Ardent cut the deck house into 6 pieces with Ardent Chain Pullers, and the vessel’s hull into 31 pieces with the Ardent Guided Guillotine and subsequently lifted these from the seabed with the Conquest MB-1 crane barge.
Below is a gallery showing the planning and the removal of the rig.