DNV GL has published a report which examines the feasibility of emergency preparedness solutions and calls for the industry to collaborate on new response concepts.
As offshore field developments in the North and Norwegian Seas face maturity, operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) are looking to the more remote areas of the Barents Sea for further development. Here harsher environmental conditions, prolonged periods of darkness and long distances to shore make evacuation and rescue of personnel on Arctic offshore installations more challenging.
Emergency Response for Offshore Operations in the Barents Sea
DNV GL’s report "Emergency Response for Offshore Operations in the Barents Sea" examines the affect of wind speed, wave height and the presence of sea ice on the availability of evacuation and rescue resources in the Barents Sea and analyses the long-range rescue capability provided by search and rescue helicopters.
Key challenges for offshore installations in Arctic waters include: sea spray icing, darkness, lack of offshore infrastructure and long distances between installations and support sites, sea ice, low temperatures and wind chill.
JIP for Qualification of Arctic Emergency Response Concepts
To support the outcomes of the position paper, DNV GL is also initiating a new Joint Industry Project (JIP) for Qualification of Arctic Emergency Response Concepts. The aim of the JIP will be to determine which types of emergency concepts result in a satisfactory level of safety, while at the same time, assessing and comparing the economic feasibility of the different concepts.
The work will focus on developing quantitative methods for analysing and visualising the performance of different emergency preparedness concepts. The approach will explore the effects of sharing resources and cooperation between industry stakeholders in order to balance performance and cost.
