OREANDA-NEWS. UPDATED: Statoil has now completed the airlift of personnel from the Njord-A platform, and all employees have been sent to shore.
The de-manning was initiated as a precautionary measure since the platform is currently subject to weather restrictions, in connection with ongoing reinforcement work taking place on board.

In all, 97 persons were sent ashore.

Njord A has been out of production since the summer of 2013 and all production systems are shut down and emptied of oil and gas. The personnel on board are primarily occupied with necessary maintenance and preparations for the planned reinforcement work. 

“This gives us time to assess the weather situation ahead and will allow specialists to carry out checks of the platform’s integrity and security systems before we restore the manning of the platform to normal levels,” says Arve Rennemo, production director at Njord A.

On November 16, after storm forecasts, Statoil decided to remove personnel from the Njord A platform in the Norwegian Sea as a precautionary measure.

There are 97 people on board Njord A and three helicopters have been requisitioned to transport personnel from the installation to Kristiansund airport Kvernberget. The de-manning began at 7 a.m. and is expected to be completed by 13.00 p.m.

Comprehensive analysis and inspection work carried out during a turnaround on Njord this summer revealed the need for reinforcements to a number of beams in the platform structure on Njord A. Production and drilling activities were halted and certain weather restrictions have been imposed on the platform.