LIFE - RESCUE CRAFT ICE TRIALS APRIL 14 -17/2002 MARCH 1- 5 / 2003

摘要

Both the "Royal Commission on the Sinking of the Ocean Ranger" and the Piper Alpha Inquiry recommended that improvements be made to escape, evacuation and rescue (EER) systems employed on offshore petroleum facilities. The respective methodologies suggested for achieving these was by both the development of "performance standards" and the utilization of "goal-setting regulations". A system now exists which meets the recommendations of both public inquiries. Following an extensive series of model testing at the Institute of Marine Dynamics in St. John's, a full operating system was installed at the Humberside Offshore Training Association (HOTA) located in Kingston-upon- Hull, United Kingdom. A total of 267 trials with resulting data gave evidence to the effective availability of this unique system. A second system of a more advanced configuration is currently under construction. It is to be placed at the mouth of St. John's harbour on the east coast of Newfoundland, Canada in March 2003. Complete with the newly constructed Life-Rescue Craft, the Seascape System of Evacuation will undergo a series of rigorous trials in seas up to and including Beaufort 8. Launches will, also, be made into a combination of 1st year and multi-year ice, which is present in early spring. The Life-Rescue Craft launched in February 2002 was dispatched to the northeast coast of Newfoundland in mid-April, 2002 where it was subjected to a rigorous series of ice-trials. A second set of trials in harbour/sheet ice took place between March 1-5, 2003. This major research & development is being carried out as a multi-national joint industry/ government project (JIP) involving regulators from several jurisdictions and a consortium of major operators. The project is to conclude in March/April 2004.