Shell Suspend all Decommissioning work on the Curlew FPSO

Shell have confirmed all decommissioning work on the Curlew floating production vessel has been suspended due to an incident while cleaning a tank.

It has been claimed that a male worker while in a confined space during tank cleaning work two weeks ago had run out of oxygen while in the tank.

Shell confirmed no one was injured.

Augean North Sea Services is carrying out cleaning and waste disposal on the FPSO at the Port of Dundee prior to scrapping.

The decommissioning contract was due to finish next month, but has now been pushed back to the end of November as a result.

Shell confirmed it had opened an investigation into the incident and that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had been informed.

Workers trade union Unite claimed the incident highlighted issues around “proper procedures being in place.”

John Boland, Unite regional officer, said procedures are “strong” when assets are offshore, but that the situation raises questions about what procedures are in place when a vessel is docked.

Adding: “I object when incidents like this happen and it makes me wonder what health and safety procedures are in place?

“It will be interesting to see what the HSE report finds and I hope Shell will make that available when it’s complete.”

Augean North Sea Services were unavailable for comment at the time of writing.