Decommissioning takes apart aging steel — with the hazards still inside it.
Removing a platform reverses installation on structures that are corroded, fatigued, and full of residual hydrocarbons. Cutting, heavy lifts of uncertain loads, and stored energy make decommissioning uniquely hazardous.
Reversing the build.
Decommissioning plugs and abandons the wells and removes the topsides, jacket, and equipment — cutting structures with abrasive or explosive methods and lifting them off with heavy-lift vessels, often after decades of service.
Cut, dropped, exposed.
Cutting hazards from explosive and abrasive methods, dropped loads when degraded steel fails or loads are mis-estimated, structural collapse of corroded members, residual hydrocarbon and H2S exposure, and diving hazards. The age and uncertainty of the structures drive the risk.
Which law — and who answers.
Offshore construction is vessel-based, contractor-heavy work, so liability spreads across the vessel, the contractors, and the equipment makers.
The construction vessel, derrick barge, or heavy-lift vessel and its crew are controlled by the owner/operator, who answers under the Jones Act and whose unfit vessel or gear can be unseaworthy.
The installation, rigging, and lift companies answer for negligent work and planning; the borrowed-employee doctrine sorts out who controlled the job.
A defective crane, winch, rigging component, or cutting tool supports a products claim against the manufacturer.
On a construction vessel the crew are usually seamen (Jones Act); on a fixed structure the LHWCA/OCSLA and §905(b) vessel negligence apply. The firm preserves whichever route fits (Jones Act vs. workers’ comp).
Sound like your situation? Calling us is confidential, costs nothing, and starts nothing you don’t choose to start.
Text (713) 489-2297We reconstruct the removal.
The firm rebuilds the decommissioning plan, the cutting, and the lifts, drawing on the heavy-lift, explosion, H2S, and diving analyses.
What the other side will argue.
Expect the familiar moves — the claim that the survey was adequate rather than underestimating the steel — alongside the standard fights over seaman status, comparative fault, and surveillance. The full Construction defense playbook, with how each argument is met, is set out on our construction operations page.
Removal is planned and surveyed.
Decommissioning runs to an engineered plan with structural surveys, cutting and lift procedures, and gas-freeing and isolation steps. An injury points to a survey, a plan, or a procedure that fell short. The firm proves the standard through a structural and marine-safety expert, and the decommissioning plan, the structural surveys, the cutting and lift records, and the gas-test logs carry the case.
Old steel and residual hydrocarbons are known risks — a decommissioning injury usually means the survey or the plan underestimated them.
What to protect first.
For this work the evidence is the decommissioning plan, the structural surveys, and the cutting and lift records — held by the company and routinely overwritten, so demand preservation in writing before it is lost, and get prompt medical care. The full first-days checklist is on our construction operations page.
Where this connects.
Construction Operations · Heavy Lifts · Explosion & Fire · H2S Exposure · Diving
What happens when you text us
Tell us what happened — in your own words, as much or as little as you want.
We review it free. You learn whether maritime law protects you and what your options actually are.
You decide. Nothing is filed, and no one contacts your employer, unless you choose to move forward.
Your conversation with us is confidential. There is no fee unless we win. Hablamos español.
Reach out even if…
- You think the accident was partly your fault — under the Jones Act, your own fault reduces a recovery but does not bar it.
- You already gave a statement or signed something — a release signed under pressure can be challenged.
- You still work for the company — talking to a lawyer is confidential, and retaliation for pursuing a claim can itself be actionable.
- You’re not sure your case is “big enough” — that’s exactly what a free review is for.
Catastrophic offshore injury? The investigation can’t wait.
Equipment gets repaired, records get revised, and witnesses rotate off the rig. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP moves quickly to preserve the evidence and identify every responsible party. A case review costs nothing, there is no obligation, and your employer will not know you contacted us.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The law that applies to an offshore injury — the Jones Act, the LHWCA and \u00a7 905(b), OCSLA, the general maritime law, product-liability law, or another body of law — and the parties responsible depend on the specific facts. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP · Houston, Texas. This is attorney advertising.
