A tendon element (36) is cooperable with other tendon elements to form an abandonment or recovery string. The tendon element (36) is elongate to define opposed ends, and comprises: complementary connector formations (62, 64) at respective ends, each connector formation being cooperable, in use when forming a string, with a complementary connector formation of a neighbouring tendon element (36) in the string; a tensile load-bearing member (66) extending between the connector formations; and at least one sleeve (68) removably mounted around the load-bearing member. The sleeve (68) is arranged to be handled by pipe-joint handling apparatus associated with a J-lay tower.