a shutdown of this enterprise at a very early stage (Bugrov 1992, 1996). Over the
past 25 years more than 1000 oil and gas structures were installed in the same area
and more than 300 in the Black Sea. The amount of time to decommission these
platforms takes on average of one year and international experience in disassembling those platforms showed that the average cost of disassembly works is several
million Euros (Bugrov 1991). Resigning the dismantling of the platforms and
therefore saving costs could support a cross-subsidasation of aquaculture. This
would have had an influence on the commercial potential of these multi-use concept, however, that was not taken into account at that time.
1.3.2 Pilot Projects in the USA
In the Gulf of Mexico the cumulative costs of a total removal of oil rigs had reached
an estimated $1 billion by the year 2000 (Dauterive 2000). In this respect the search
for a way of conversion of such structures became more important and initiated the
search for alternatives. Operators have recognized that during a rig’s productive
years, significant marine life aggregates on and around its structures. This is also
Fig. 1.2 Submersible cage complex “Sadco-Kitezh” (consisting of 6 individual cage modules)
disposed next to an offshore oil-rig in the Caspian Sea in 1988, floating (a) and submerged (b);
c displays a concept for a series of submerged cages and d shows a collection of submergible
devices for fish and bivalves and floating seaweed a test site following an IMTA-concept (Bugrov
2016 following Buck et al. 2004)
1 Introduction: New Approaches to Sustainable Offshore …
9
past 25 years more than 1000 oil and gas structures were installed in the same area
and more than 300 in the Black Sea. The amount of time to decommission these
platforms takes on average of one year and international experience in disassembling those platforms showed that the average cost of disassembly works is several
million Euros (Bugrov 1991). Resigning the dismantling of the platforms and
therefore saving costs could support a cross-subsidasation of aquaculture. This
would have had an influence on the commercial potential of these multi-use concept, however, that was not taken into account at that time.
1.3.2 Pilot Projects in the USA
In the Gulf of Mexico the cumulative costs of a total removal of oil rigs had reached
an estimated $1 billion by the year 2000 (Dauterive 2000). In this respect the search
for a way of conversion of such structures became more important and initiated the
search for alternatives. Operators have recognized that during a rig’s productive
years, significant marine life aggregates on and around its structures. This is also
Fig. 1.2 Submersible cage complex “Sadco-Kitezh” (consisting of 6 individual cage modules)
disposed next to an offshore oil-rig in the Caspian Sea in 1988, floating (a) and submerged (b);
c displays a concept for a series of submerged cages and d shows a collection of submergible
devices for fish and bivalves and floating seaweed a test site following an IMTA-concept (Bugrov
2016 following Buck et al. 2004)
1 Introduction: New Approaches to Sustainable Offshore …
9