Ithaca in HSE warning for years-late safety checks and ‘crack’ in Alba tank

Ithaca Energy has received a warning from the safety watchdog after being caught with several years-late integrity checks on its Alba oil storage vessel and a crack in a cargo tank.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said checks had  not made “suitable arrangements in place for maintaining the integrity of the installation”.

In an inspection of March 23, and follow up meetings in April, Ithaca had been shown to have several overdue safety checks on a hull “nine years past its design life”.

One of the cargo tanks had not been inspected for seven years and had a two-foot (615 millimetre) crack on the main deck  – it should have been checked every five years.

Another, which should have been inspected every four years, hadn’t been checked since 2014.

The Alba FSU is used to store crude from the namesake heavy oilfield before the cargo is taken off by shuttle tankers.

Oil is transported once per month to refineries in north-west Europe.

Inspectors also pointed to the high content of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) – a dangerous type of gas – which has potential for corrosion in the tanks.

HSE said Ithaca had not quantified the extent of the side shell plating requiring remedial work.

However it conceded that Ithaca has, by its own assessment, noted “significant corrosion and wall thickness loss” needing fixed.

Ithaca has until May 2023 to comply but the firm said work is already well underway.

A spokesperson for Ithaca said: “We take health, safety and our environmental responsibility very seriously.

“The Company has been actively progressing remediation work before further inspection and, although slightly delayed by COVID-19, the inspection work will be completed ahead of the HSE compliance date.”

The Alba field is operated by Ithaca with 36.7%, partnered with Waldorf Production (25.68%), NEO Energy (17%), Spirit Energy (12.65%) and EnQuest (8%).

Since starting production in 1994, the Alba field has produced over 428 million barrels of oil.