ABDOMINAL Brings Together Leading Industry Players To Tackle Safety Challenge Of Aging FPSO Fleet
abdominal muscle has actually combined leading firms in the Floating Production Storage as well as Offloading (FPSO) market to deal with the safety and security difficulties created by a fleet where over half of the ship kind vessels more than 30-years-old as well as a quarter more than 40-years-old.
The functioning team, including Chevron, Shell Trading (UNITED STATE) Company, Petrobras, MODEC as well as SBM along with The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Registry, as well as the U.S Coast Guard 8th District, led by abdominal muscle has actually currently seen the production of 5 Joint Industry Projects (JIPs) targeted at utilizing modern technology to deal with a variety of FPSO safety and security concerns.
JIPs will certainly deal with composite products fixings for overseas frameworks, life expansion of cable ropes, determining administration software application, applications of photogrammetry as well as 3D Lidar Laser Scanning, as well as the duty of expert system in deterioration evaluation.

Representation Image– Credits: modec.com
“The offshore industry is faced with an evolving risk profile, with opportunities to enhance protocols and systems to address these risks. With almost 60 percent of the global operating fleet of FPSOs classed by ABS, we are committed to addressing these issues and ensuring the ABS-classed fleet remains the safest and best performing fleet in the world. The challenges surrounding maintenance and structural fitness of aging FPSOs is not just a Class concern; rather, it is an industry challenge that requires the involvement and cooperation of all of the industry players,” claimed Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABDOMINAL Chairman, President as well as Chief Executive Officer.
“Protecting people and the environment, operating and executing with excellence and applying innovative technologies are the cornerstone of our business and that’s why we fully support this timely initiative from ABS,” claimed Maria Ximenes, Chevron Shipping, GM Marine Technical as well as Projects.
“Safety underpins everything we do at Shell and we recognize that there are opportunities to proactively address risks within the FPSO fleet,” claimed Karrie Trauth, SVP Shipping & & Maritime for Shell.“We’re proud to be working with ABS and this group of industry and government leaders to develop and deploy real solutions to the maritime safety challenges in this sector.”
“Structural Integrity is one of our main Process Safety Barriers and we all face the same challenges on aging units. It is of utmost importance and in everybody’s interest to share experience, knowledge, ideas and that we agree on a best way forward to maintain structural integrity in a safe and efficient manner. Therefore, we are fully committed to support and participate in this initiative,” claimed Ivar Houthuysen, SBMAssets Integrity Director
“We should recognize that offshore production facilities, which have only 50-years history, are not identical to ships, which have already matured over 6,000 years. It is important to humbly learn how to maintain the integrity of our FPSOs for long design lives through “trial and error” as well as constantly include brand-new knowings right into future FPSOs, consisting of Class regulations,” claimed Koichi Matsumiya, Modec GM, Engineering as well as Deputy CTO.
“I applaud ABS for leading this initiative and facilitating discussion among industry leaders to enhance the safety of the worldwide FPSO fleet through sharing of best practices and consideration of advances in technology,” claimed Captain Matt Denning, UNITED STATE Coast Guard Eighth District Outer Continental Shelf Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection.
“The RMI Registry looks forward to collaborating with owners/operators, the FPSO working group members, and other industry stakeholders in developing risk management solutions for the aging FPSO fleet. The Registry is also actively engaged in ensuring continued safe operations in the ever-evolving FPSO industry as part of our initiative towards quality, compliance, and value,” claimed Vice President, Technical– Offshore, Cosmin Bozenovici of International Registries, Inc., which offers management as well as technological assistance to the RMI Registry.
“This is an opportunity for all the stakeholders in the FPSO value chain to pool their knowledge, technical expertise and their resources to deliver better safety outcomes. We are proud to support this initiative as part of our commitment to quality, compliance and continuous improvement,” claimed Stephen Keenan, Head of Inspections & & Surveys Department at The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA).
abdominal muscle has actually likewise established its regulations, with a substantial variety of modifications suitable to FPSOs, both for existing devices as well as for brand-new centers. These Rule modifications are planned to deal with much of the threats connected to maturing FPSOs from both a style as well as an upkeep point of view.
An overall of 55 FPSO devices in the worldwide fleet are getting to completion of their layout life in the following 5 years, a more 5 currently live expansion in position, with a more 19 presently being assessed forever expansion. The initiatives of this functioning team will certainly create results that aid with the assessment as well as prospective approval of life expansion.
abdominal muscle classified the initial FPSO vessel in united state waters in 1978 as well as remains to lead safety and security as well as advancement with brand-new modern technology that sustains bigger, a lot more intricate FPSOs running in ultra-deep water as well as in the pre-salt area of Brazil.
Reference: ABDOMINAL