The Shell Brent Bravo Platform and Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit vessel featured in this article both have a controversial history. Workers died in an avoidable accident on Brent Bravo after Shell management ignored the dire warnings and revelations of a “Touch F*** All” safety culture findings arising from a safety audit. Pioneering Spirit was originally named after a Nazi SS Officer, Pieter Schelte, the father of the owner of Allseas.
Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit has completed its second platform topsides removal in the North Sea in the last week, as the heavy lift and pipelay vessel removed the 25,000-ton Brent Bravo topsides. Allseas said in a statement that the operation took approximately four hours, from positioning the vessel around the platform to the moment of the lift.
The Brent field started production in 1976. At its peak in 1982, the four platforms in the field were producing more than 500,000 BOPD. The field has produced approximately 3 billion boe since 1976. Shell announced its plans to decommission parts of the field in 2015.