CIL Senior Research Fellow Youna Lyons was invited as a speaker to the 6th Annual Offshore Decommissioning Training Workshop, Asia Pacific, in Kuala-Lumpur, Malaysia, on 4-5 November 2014, organised by DecomWorld. Youna presented a paper titled ‘Prospects for Rigs-to-Reefs in Southeast Asia: November 2013 Workshop Findings and Recommendations’. To view her presentation, please click here.

The 2013 Workshop was the culmination of efforts of three research centres from the National University of Singapore, specialising in ocean law and policy, marine sciences and offshore engineering, together with the University Teknologi Petronas on the prospects for rigs-to-reefs in Southeast Asia.

The main goals of the 2013 Workshop were to (1) improve the visibility among all stakeholders of rigs-to-reefs as a decommissioning solution, (2) develop a network of regional experts for knowledge-sharing pathways with research in fisheries, biodiversity, offshore, engineering, environmental economics, and law and policy, and (3) identify the main issues raised by the placement of rigs-to-reefs in Southeast Asia. Close to 100 participants from government, academia and the offshore industry from around the region came together to explore the potential benefits, risks and feasibility for some of these offshore installations nearing the end of their commercial life to be re-used as artificial reefs as a mitigation measure against the destruction of natural habitats and the degradation of fisheries stocks or as an opportunity for sustainable marine commercial ventures.