PRELIMINARY HAZARD ANALYSIS OF THE ACTIVITIES OF INSPECTION AND REPAIR IN A CARGO TANK OF AN OPERATING FPSO

摘要

The number of Floating Production Storage and Offloading units (FPSOs) operating worldwide has been increasing due to the fact that they are well recognized as one of the most economical systems to develop offshore (ultra) deep water areas lacking infrastructure. In order to comply with the regulations, especially the Classification Society rules, and to monitor the hull integrity, all the cargo tanks must be submitted to periodical surveys on a continuous base. Eventually during this survey, some anomalies may be found, such as cracks and thickness loss in structural elements that will require repairs. This study provides a brief review of the methodology provided by the Guidelines for Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) proposed by IMO (2002) and its application to the activities performed to survey and repair a cargo tank of an operating FPSO. A detailed description of these activities is provided in order to define the scope and frontiers of this study. Special attention is paid to the first step of the FSA methodology and the "Preliminary Hazard Analysis" technique is applied to the mentioned activities.