£750,000 and Counting
Sometimes the most challenging projects begin where others have reached their limits.
That was certainly the case when ThinJack arrived at a North Sea platform 177km northeast of Aberdeen, where a tree cap flange replacement had been stalled for six months – and counting.
The numbers were stark: with the well producing around 1,000 barrels per day at $70 per barrel, every day of delay meant £70,000 in lost production. After six months, that added up to roughly £750,000 – and the bill was still climbing.
The Fear of Making Things Worse
Here's what had happened before ThinJack arrived: another contractor had attempted the classic approach of rotating the studs to separate the flange. On one side – the non-rusty side – they'd succeeded brilliantly.
But on the other side, decades of rust had filled the tiny 1.5mm gap between bolt and hole with what Guy describes as "a coffee cup volume of binding rust."
Faced with studs that wouldn't turn and the very real risk of shearing them off inside the bolt holes, they'd made the smart decision to stop. But that left them with a problem: half the studs removed, the flange awkwardly unbalanced, and a well that couldn't produce.
"If you've got a number of studs broken off in the holes, you've got to drill down and find a way of rotating them out," Guy explains. "And if you want to put the whole flange back down and you're missing half the studs, that's unsafe."
Right Place, Right Time, Wrong Everything Else
ThinJack got the call because they'd just finished solving another problem on an adjacent platform. Good timing, but everything else about this job was about to test them.
First, there was no site survey and no pre-planning opportunity – they simply arrived and had to assess what they were dealing with. The studs didn't have the usual amount of thread, which meant they couldn't use their standard approach of keeping the flange level during separation.
Second, this was a confined space job with an awkward Inconel pipe obstruction that couldn't be moved without shutting in adjacent wells and losing more revenue. The workspace was hot, dehydrating, and uncomfortably cramped.
Third, there was no drilling rig available to provide the hundreds of tonnes of pull force that usually makes this work easier. This was going to be all on ThinJack's equipment.
"I'd say this was in the top fifth in the difficulty range of seized well flanges we've had to separate," Guy recalls. "The job was sustained and awkward over several days."
3am Innovation
Sometimes the best solutions come from the most unlikely collaborations. Faced with studs that didn't have enough thread to work with, the ThinJack team needed to create annular sleeves to drop over the studs. At 3am, with no bosses around to ask permission, they enlisted the platform's mechanical apprentices.
Together, they fired up 50-year-old cutting machinery that rarely got used and turned scrap scaffolding into precisely engineered sleeves. It was hands-on problem-solving that mattered, and the young apprentices threw themselves into it completely.
"No bosses around to ask, so we just asked for forgiveness," Guy grins. The improvised production line ran for two hours in the middle of the night, creating exactly what was needed.
The Danger of Powerful Solutions
Here's what makes ThinJack's work particularly nerve-wracking: their equipment is incredibly powerful – so powerful that it's "the most powerful jamming system in the world if you get it wrong."
With half the studs already removed and the flange precariously unbalanced, every move had to be calculated perfectly. One wrong angle and the flange could tilt and jam irrevocably, turning a difficult job into an impossible one.
"The ThinJack loves doing the easy thing," Guy explains. "You have to force it to work." With the custom sleeves in place and a multi-contractor team working in perfect coordination, they spent four days carefully coaxing the seized flange apart.
A 15-Year Partnership Pays Off
This wasn't just any client relationship – this operator had been ThinJack's very first UKCS customer back in 2008. They'd worked together on dozens of wells since then, building exactly the kind of trust that matters when everything goes wrong.
Some of the original ThinJack equipment was still in storage, maintained and checked so it remained immediately usable after 15 years.
When the call came, Lesley – a company director and, as Guy puts it, 'last woman standing' – had a challenge. With her diminutive stature, she doesn't do heavy lifting in the traditional sense. But she finds solutions with immense spirit, so she enlisted mechanical engineer neighbour to help pallet equipment over a weekend. They photographed the sub-cases so the offshore team could verify they had the right systems – proving that sometimes the best logistics come from good neighbours and creative problem-solving
When Teams Become Family
What made this project work wasn't just technical expertise – it was the way multiple contractors "welded together into a single team" under pressure. Spending hours in advance discussing and mitigating risks, challenging each other supportively, everyone looking out for each other.
"It takes a certain type of team spirit to not accept the status quo and combine it with unwavering but questioning customer support," Guy reflects. "Magically, it then all comes together to solve the most difficult of problems."
The Platform's Well Services Supervisor summed it up: "ThinJack Ltd has a high quality service and product, with precise and thorough documents. Both crew members worked to a high standard, showing a good HSE attitude and a high level of competence." A manager commented: "You can see just how committed ThinJack is to providing an extremely bespoke service on a rapid turnaround."
Why This Matters
When the well finally came back online after six months of delays, the customer’s management received bonuses. That's how much it mattered to get this right.
This story captures everything ThinJack represents: the willingness to tackle problems others can't solve, the innovation that happens when expertise meets necessity, and the relationships built over years that pay dividends when everything's on the line.
Sometimes, the difference between a £750,000 loss and a successful outcome isn't just about having the right equipment – it's about having the right people, the right partnerships, and the willingness to make sleeves from scrap scaffolding at 3am when that's what the job requires.
When impossible problems need solving, precision engineering and human ingenuity make all the difference – one seized flange at a time.
