Smit Lamnalco calls for FLNG safety collaboration
Published by Callum O'Reilly,
Senior Editor
LNG Industry,
Smit Lamnalco’s Group Business Development Manager, Andrew Brown, has commented on important differences in safety issues between floating oil and floating gas facilities: "A robust safety framework is well-established and clearly understood in the floating oil storage and production sector […] and the industry is now working on standard operating procedures, safety regulations and emergency response plans for the floating LNG sector.
"But this is a new technology […] and it is advancing rapidly. It will enable the harnessing of vast gas reserves in offshore locations which so far have not proved economically viable. There are about 15 projects at various stages of development today but this number could easily double over the course of the next decade.
"The industry has an impeccable safety record because of the skill and expertise within the sector[…] We must keep it that way," Brown added.
Smit Lamnalco’s CEO, Daan Koornneef, believes that marine service companies have a key role to play in drawing up the necessary guidelines and procedures.
Brown questions whether the industry should consider the possibility of making mandatory a dynamic positioning capability with redundancy (DP2) aboard gas shuttle tankers serving offshore floating gas facilities.
He also believes that as soon as cryogenic tandem transfer technology is sufficiently developed, the industry could move towards cargo transfer in a tandem configuration as opposed to a side-by-side arrangement. This has already been widely adopted in the FPSO sector.
Perhaps most important of all, however, is the urgent need for specialist tailored training for seafarers who are supporting floating gas terminal operations. Brown points out that the operation of specialist marine support vessels in this niche sector will require the very highest calibre of specially trained seafaring personnel.
Adapted from press release by Callum O'Reilly
Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/floating-lng/29052014/smit_lamnalco_calls_for_flng_safety_collaboration_676/
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