In October 2023, a proof of concept (POC) to repurpose industry end-of-life materials into an artificial reef was undertaken in Malaysia as a collaboration between Sumitomo Corporation; Petronas; and the Department of Fisheries, Malaysia (DOFM). For the POC, surplus oil-country tubular goods (OCTG) casing pipes were used in the fabrication of artificial reef structures for the enhancement of biodiversity and commercial fisheries. This paper shares a brief overview of this initiative, monitoring results, and replication of this concept in a subsequent project.
Introduction
As the demand for decommissioning activities increases, an increasing need exists to seek options for the treatment of decommissioned materials. Traditionally, rigs-to-reefs (RTR) is an environmentally sustainable approach toward offshore decommissioning whereby offshore platforms are repurposed as artificial reef structures to enhance marine biodiversity. RTR initiatives also reduce costs for removal and logistics by reefing parts of the decommissioned structure that have been assessed to be free of contaminants on the seabed at the actual decommissioning site or transported and reefed at a designated site.
