Marine services provider Ardent completed the removal of the sunken Troll Solution jack-up in November, 2016, which represented the company’s largest wreck removal project in 2016.

Weighing approximately 7,000 tons, the jack-up Troll Solution experienced a debilitating accident while carrying out maintenance work on the wellhead platform CAAN-A in 2015.

During efforts to refloat and salvage the jack-up, the Troll Solution collapsed and sank into the seabed in a water depth of 30 meters. After sinking, the Troll Solution came to rest within two meters from the active CAAN-A platform, according to Ardent.

The company said that it 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 US and Mexico.

Ardent’s newly designed Guided Guillotine was used to dismember the jack-up, instead of cutting with more conventional methods.

“The main hurdles to overcome were, how to best cut the jack-up into sections without fabricating an elaborate structure, and boring holes underneath the jack-up through the seabed was improbable due to obstructions,” Shelby Harris, Ardent Americas Operations Director, said.

The salvage team 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.