Two advisory notes on the safety of FPSOs issued by ABS

The American Bureau of Shipping on 16 May 2023 issued two advisory notes on the safety of FPSOs (Floating Production Storage and Offloading).

Enhancing Safety on FPSOs: Operations and Maintenance

Opportunities to support FPSO operations and maintenance can be adopted from several different areas.

These include procedural improvements, the application of new technologies, design improvements, and the utilization of digital solutions.

In many instances, preventative actions can be identified and implemented to prevent costly downtime and repairs. Often, damage and required repairs are only identified after the fact.

As the industry gains experience providing repair and maintenance solutions, these best practices should be shared to promote safe and successful offshore operations.

Innovative risk-based inspection (RBI), tank cleaning, and repair procedures should be shared across the fleet and implemented as best suits the operating profile of FPSOs of all ages and designs.

Similarly, there are opportunities in the design and construction phase of projects to proactively address how design affects maintenance. For example, designing permanent means of access for more efficient tank inspections or designing tank internals to better accommodate crude oil washing (COW) and tank cleaning can have a significant impact on the cost and success of offshore operations.

In this publication, ABS has worked together with a number of offshore operators to share information on best practices that can be applied across a diverse FPSO fleet.

FPSOs of all types can potentially improve their operations and maintenance practices by utilizing the practices described herein.

If you need more information, please visit the ABS Advisories page, where the document is available FOR FREE.

Enhancing Safety on FPSOs with Digital Technologies

In this document, ABS shares information on some of the latest technologies that can be utilized across a diverse FPSO fleet.

FPSOs of all types have the opportunity to invest in improved safety and performance through the use of new technologies.

Remote Inspection Technologies

The offshore industry faces challenges in conducting effective surveys and inspections on floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels while minimizing the exposure of personnel to hazardous conditions.

Since FPSOs are usually site-specific, often permanently moored, and under continuous production, dry docking for inspections and maintenance does not fit operational profiles and would be cost-prohibitive.

Implementing remote inspection technologies (RIT) can support inspection and survey of FPSOs without the need to relocate the vessel or for surveyors or inspectors to access potentially hazardous locations.

This section of the document explores the possible applications, benefits, risks, and future potential of different remote inspection vehicles (RIVs). These include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs), and robotic crawlers.

RIT refers to the technology’s capabilities and RIV refers to the different vehicles by which the technologies are deployed.

Also discussed are emerging technologies such as Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), wearables, and robotic arm cameras.

These emerging technologies are becoming more mature, and there is the potential that these may be able to support inspections and surveys with more industry partnerships to fully evaluate RIT capabilities and limitations.

If you need more information, please visit the ABS Advisories page, where the document is available FOR FREE.

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