The Development of the Regulatory Compliance Scheme for the Gulf of Mexico’s First Ship-Shaped DP Floating Production Unit (FPU)

摘要

The standard formula for the certification of floating offshore installations (FOIs) in the U.S. regions of the Gulf of Mexico has remained the same between 1995 and 2006. This formula is derived based on a floating offshore installation being U.S. flagged and reviewed to the requirements of Title 33 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFRs) Subchapter N (requirements for floating outer continental shelf (OCS) facilities) which refers one to various parts of Title 46 of the CFRs for design requirements. In the past, there were basically two(2) methods of certifying floating offshore installations. One method was to use a professional engineer (P.E.) and have drawings submitted to the United States Coast Guard (USCG) for all approvals. The other was to Class the vessel with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and have ABS perform the certification work for compliance with the CFRs on behalf of the USCG using guidance from Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circulars 10-82, 10-92 Change 2 and 3-97. Nearly all floating production facilities installed between 1995 and 2006 were “new builds” and U.S. flagged. All were moored to the seafloor. None were ship-shaped. Helix Energy Solutions Group (Helix) was about to change history with the first ship-shaped floating production facility, but the differences did not start here. The vessel was a conversion of a 21-year old ship. The vessel was foreign flagged. The vessel would be Classed with Lloyd’s Register (LR). The vessel would use a dynamic positioning system to maintain station keeping as opposed to using a mooring system; and the vessel would have a disconnectable riser system which would allow it to disconnect in the event of an emergency or if found to be in the path of a severe storm / hurricane. The standard formula for certification had to change, but compliance had to be equivalent to that of the CFRs. To accomplish this, a Regulatory Compliance Scheme had to be developed between Helix Energy Solutions Group, Lloyd’s Register and the USCG. This paper presents the details of this Regulatory Compliance Scheme and execution methodology to achieve LR Class, Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Certification and USCG Compliance.