Ninian Central - Crane Boom Replacement

Project Background

The Ninian Central Platform is an oil platform in the UK North Sea. When constructed in Loch Kishorn (Scotland) in 1978 the 600,000-tonne platform was the world's largest man-made movable object before being towed to its current position and sunk to the sea floor.

Now at the end of its commercial life, the platform is to be decommissioned over several years and prior to works commencing one of the crane booms required replacement to ensure it remained reliable for the duration of the decommissioning phase.

Client Initial Specified Work Scope

Our customer Enermech were contracted to manage the overall scope of replacing the existing crane boom with a like-for-like replacement. 

To facilitate this, three large load bearing scaffolds were required to provide high capacity laydown areas for both the incoming and outgoing crane booms, with HAKI Access Solutions being sub-contracted to provide these works,

Our Solution

Our solution was based around the design of three large loadbearing birdcage scaffolds using HAKI Universal System Scaffold to give the scope a fast build speed but also to reduce the work at height risks and durations of our scaffolders as HAKI Universal can be erected from a scaffolder safe zone by pre-installing the collective fall protection to the decked lift above from the safety of the lift below as demonstrated on our YouTube channel.

Integrated within the HAKI Universal birdcage were HAKI Tripods with a custom steel skid frame to allow all loads from the crane boom to be transmitted through the high capacity Tripods and into the primary steelwork of the weather deck.

The full scope was designed and checked by our inhouse design team and our team of scaffolders mobilised offshore for the duration of the works to complete the builds and destruct and also offer ongoing modification and inspection cover as required. 

Safety & Commercial Benefits

Using HAKI Universal System Scaffold compared to traditional tube and fitting equipment for this scope of works resulted in a labour cost saving of 75% when compared to erecting a similar structure comprised entirely of traditional tube and fitting scaffolding.

The labour cost saving also had a positive impact on the schedule programme of works with further benefits associated with reduced volumes of equipment, shipping savings and also less requirement for onboard deck space allowing other scopes to progress alongside ours.