Replacing loading buoy

Norwegian Petroleum Museum

Damage to the loading buoy for Statfjord B was discovered in the autumn of 1988. Cracks identified in the tube which ran through the universal joint on the seabed could not be repaired without taking the structure ashore.

— Illustration showing UKOLS (Ugland Kongsberg Offshore Loading System) at Statfjord. Illustration: Equinor

The cost of such an operation was so high that operator Statoil resolved instead to replace the installation with the Ugland-Kongsberg offshore loading system (Ukols). This solution, already installed on Statfjord A four years earlier, is based on a submerged facility which allows shuttle tankers to pick up the loading hose from the surface of the sea and connect to it.

Statoil applied in the summer of 1990 to dump the redundant buoy in the deep Nedstrand Fjord north of Stavanger, where the wreck of the Alexander L Kielland had earlier been sunk. But permission was refused, and the structure was towed to Erdal in Suldal local authority north-east of Stavanger.

The head of the loading buoy was lifted off and installed at the Norwegian Safety Centre (now Nutec Sotra) in Sund local authority for use in safety training. Its 185-metre steel support column was towed to Sandnessjøen in northern Norway for scrapping. According to Statoil, these dispositions cost NOK 8 million more than dumping in the Nedstrand Fjord.

To learn more, see: Oil transport from Statfjord , The loading buoys on Statfjord .

Source:
Norwegian Wire Service (NTB), 26 August 1989. Statfjord B lastebøye til 400 millioner må skiftes ut.
Bergens Tidende , morning edition, 23 June 1995. Statoil ønsket å dumpe.