Port of Blyth – Audrey Topside & Jacket Arrival for Decommissioning

  1. Year

    2023

  2. Client

    Port of Blyth

Project Overview

In August 2023, Helidragon was commissioned by the Port of Blyth to film the arrival and berthing of the Audrey Topside and Audrey Jacket at Battleship Wharf as part of an offshore decommissioning project for Thompson's of Prudhoe. This was one of those jobs where the scale of the operation is difficult to appreciate until you see it for yourself. The structures arrived by sea and were carefully manoeuvred into position alongside the quay, requiring close coordination between the marine teams, port personnel and contractors involved. Our role was to document the operation using a combination of drone aerial footage and ground-based filming, capturing the arrival, berthing process and the sheer size of the structures against the backdrop of the Port of Blyth.

Projects like this are a great example of the specialist work taking place around the UK offshore energy and decommissioning sectors. They also demonstrate the capability of ports such as Blyth to handle large-scale marine engineering projects safely and efficiently.

The footage was produced to help showcase the operation and provide a visual record of a significant milestone in the decommissioning process.

Services provided by Helidragon:

• Drone aerial filming

• Ground-based video production

• Marine and industrial filming

• Project documentation

Our Filming Approach

Our filming approach was designed to capture both the immense scale of the marine operation and the finer details of the activity taking place at Battleship Wharf.

Aerial drone filming provided an elevated perspective of the Audrey Topside and Jacket, showing their size in relation to the vessels, quayside and surrounding port infrastructure.

Ground-based cameras complemented these aerial views, capturing the detail, textures and movement of the structures, specialist equipment and personnel involved in the operation. These closer perspectives helped communicate the engineering complexity that can be difficult to appreciate from the air alone.

We also positioned time-lapse cameras to document the slower stages of the operation. By compressing hours of activity into shorter sequences, we were able to reveal the movement and progression of the work in a visually engaging way.

Combining aerial filming, ground-level detail and time-lapse photography allowed us to tell a more complete story of the operation, creating a valuable visual record while showcasing the Port of Blyth's capabilities in offshore energy and decommissioning.