Case Study: Amuriyah

On the afternoon of 23 January 1991, the Amuriyah, an 82,000t Iraqi oil tanker sunk near Bubiyan Island off the coast of Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. In 2013, it was decided the tanker needed to be removed because it was within the tanker turning circle of a proposed mooring point at Iraq's Al Basrah Oil Terminal, through which 97% of Iraq's crude oil is exported.

To remove the tanker, the 285m-long hull needed to be cut up into manageable pieces, and it was clear to the general contractor, traditional techniques for positioning cutting chains would limit accuracy and lead to deviations in the section weight. In order to control the deviation of the pilots and ensure 100% accuracy, the general contractor conducted a worldwide search for technology which would guarantee pinpoint accuracy of the rivercross drilling entry and exit points under the 44.2m-wide hull.

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