After using the Claw to remove three topsides from the Gulf earlier in the lift season.
Click here for details, Versabar’s VB 10,000 returned to the field to remove each of the jackets. Because of their heights, placing the jackets on transport barges offshore was not an option. Instead, the VB 10,000 towed each jacket individually to Sabine Pass. With the jacket suspended under load dockside, 14-foot-long sections of the pilings had to be removed from each leg. Once this was accomplished, a transport barge was ballasted down to carefully maneuver under the load. The barge was then ballasted up until the jacket was in position for clips to be welded to each leg for transport. Versabar personnel were able to accomplish this challenging feat for each of the three jackets in just short of three weeks total, which included the VB 10,000 making a round trip of 280 miles per jacket.
