Complete service provider to the energy industry, IKM Testing UK, has delivered a Safe-Freeze® isolation to enable the removal and replacement of valves on a Major North Sea Platform, without interruption to production.
The project addresses a common offshore challenge: completing critical valve interventions on live systems while safeguarding personnel and maintaining uptime. IKM’s patented Safe-Freeze® method establishes a temporary, controlled isolation within the line, allowing downstream work to proceed in a stable, predictable window. The approach has been designed and tested in accordance with recognised standards (including ASME VIII) to provide a high level of assurance for operators managing safety-critical maintenance.
Delivered by IKM Testing UK’s specialists, the operation formed part of a wider, integrated service offer that can encompass isolation, removal, procurement and supply of replacement valves, installation, testing and refurbishment. By consolidating scopes under a single provider, operators benefit from fewer interfaces, clearer accountability and tighter control over schedule and risk.
Robbie Brown, Valve Team Lead at IKM Testing UK, said: “Operators want certainty: certainty that the line is secure, the job window is protected, and production keeps moving. Safe-Freeze® gives them that assurance. It’s a clean, well-governed way to create the conditions for safe work on live systems, which in turn helps our clients protect people, budgets and barrels. What matters the most is not the novelty of the technique but the outcome, a confident intervention that closes out risk and returns the system to service without drama.”
Steve Forbes, Head of Operations at IKM Testing UK, added: “This is the value our customers expect from IKM Testing UK, disciplined engineering combined with practical delivery and ownership of the full scope. By aligning isolation and valve services under one roof, we reduce handovers, compress timelines and de-risk maintenance. For North Sea operators facing tight campaign windows and demanding reliability targets, that translates into lower disruption and stronger performance.”
By coupling patented isolation technology with an end-to-end valve capability, IKM Testing UK supports offshore operators in executing essential maintenance safely, efficiently and with minimal operational impact across the UKCS.