THE CONTROVERSIAL abandoned floating production storage and offtake vessel Northern Endeavour has quietly departed the Timor Sea, under tow for Singapore.
The Department of Industry, Science and Resources confirmed the FPSO had been disconnected from its position in the Laminaria Corallina oil fields but was coy about details of the removal, saying only that an official update will be issued upon confirmation of its safe arrival in Singapore.
“The FPSO will undergo a range of works in Singapore to prepare it for the trip to Denmark on Cosco’s Hua Rui Long,” the department said. “Further updates will be provided when the FPSO reaches Denmark.”
The government’s decision to have the FPSO dismantled by a specialist facility in Frederikshavn has been contested by unions and sections of industry keen to see earlier pledges to support the establishment of a local dismantling/recycling capacity met.
Northern Endeavour’s departure also means the Federal Government has granted an export licence, another point of contention.
Last month DISR, through AusTender, sought bids from qualified parties to undertake the lead contractor role for the two stages of Phase Two of the decommissioning, largely involving the subsea work such as the plugging and abandonment of the nine Laminaria Corallina wells.
Northern Endeavour began operations in the Laminaria-Corallina oilfields in 1999 for Woodside and partners. In July 2015 it was sold to Northern Oil & Gas Australia, which later was forced to shut down over safety issues and subsequently went into liquidation, in September 2019.
All crew were removed in February 2020 and the Federal Government was obliged to take control of the abandoned unit and arrange its decommissioning and removal, at an expect eventual cost to taxpayers of over $1 billion.