Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam hosts naming ceremony for Petrodec Obana platform
On 21 May 2025, a naming ceremony was held at Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam’s Botlek location for Obana, a self-elevating heavy lift jack-up.
The project started in 2021 when Petrodec developed a solution for decommissioning complex offshore platforms in the UK North Sea.
Having considered various possibilities, Petrodec decided to merge two used jack-ups into a single jack-up. The jack-ups were transported to Rotterdam while a new mid-ship section was constructed in Dubai. With the arrival of the mid section in November 2024, the Obana’s 2,000 ton crane was moved from Liebherr in Rostock to Rotterdam and installed at Mammoet.
On 13 December, it was time for the three sections to enter into the Damen Shiprepair yard’s drydock number seven – at 405 x 90 metres, the largest in Western Europe, at the same time. Size was crucial, with the width of the three units reaching 80 x 230 metres.
Prior to the docking, Damen Shiprepair had prepared the forward and aft sections of the jack-ups. Once the units had been positioned using hydraulic jacks, welding could begin. This part of the project included Damen Shiprepair creating four new passageways linking forward and aft sections via the mid section. In total, Damen Shiprepair added approximately 300 tons of steel.
Furthermore, Damen Shiprepair installed all reinforcement and foundations for the Obana’s two 60 ton cranes and the main crane’s boom rest, adding a further 200 tons of steel. Following this, Damen Shiprepair assisted with installation of the two crane pedestals and main crane boom rest.
Damen Shiprepair also assisted with the piping interface for the three sections, ensuring all systems were connected, painting of the external hull, voids and areas merged, including main deck parts. With the undocking of the Obana, Damen Shiprepair continued to support Petrodec in the completion of works.
Peter Altena, Managing Director at Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam said, “This has been an exciting and unique project, and we are very proud of the result. In total, our scope has involved 500,000 hours of work, undertaken without a single lost time incident – a great achievement and a testament to the excellent partnership between Petrodec and Damen Shiprepair. Together, we wrote a little piece of history.”
