Offshore exploration and production operations in sea ice conditions must face the challenges of working in frontier environments. In the context of the corresponding regulatory environment, operators will be expected to show that new technical and operational challenges have been addressed. Emergency response in sea ice conditions is a case in point. In the event that marine evacuation of an installation is necessary, the lifeboat will have to be capable of being launched safely into ice, propelling itself away from the hazard area to some safe distance, and then affording a haven until personnel can be recovered. Some ideas are presented in this paper for improving the capabilities of lifeboats and for meeting the expectations embodied in regulations. The design and operational elements contemplated here are broadly based on model scale experiments and full-scale trials with conventional TEMPSC lifeboats that have been done over the course of a multi-year test program. Design considerations include powering and propulsion, maneuvering, structural resistance to ice loads, and arrangement of the coxswain’s cockpit (visibility). Operational considerations include the coxswain’s tactics in ice, simulator training for coxswains, and ice management of evacuation routes. Finally, the use of training simulators for evaluating and demonstrating the efficacy of these and other improvements is discussed.
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