Bureau Veritas extends Russian partnerships

Bureau Veritas is extending its partnerships in the Russian shipping and offshore sector, focussing on High Arctic offshore projects. Bureau Veritas and the Russian Register are working together to provide basic design review for the Shtokman FPU for the two tenderers: SAIPEM, SAMSUNG and SOFEC (SSS) and AKER, TECHNIP and SBM (ATS).

BV’s Offshore Rules have been translated into Russian and co-operation agreements have been reached with the Russian Register and the University of St Petersburg.

“The challenges of extracting oil and gas from the tough environments of the high Arctic have led to close co-operation between Bureau Veritas and the Russian Register, and close links between Bureau Veritas and the University of St Petersburg,” explains Bernard Anne, managing director of BV’s marine division. “There is huge potential in the exploitation of oil and gas fields in the High Arctic, and we are working with the main offshore operators and our Russian partners to ensure the natural resources can be harvested to benefit Russia and that it is done safely and cleanly.”

Bureau Veritas and the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping are working under a three-year co-operation agreement covering the development of joint guidelines for LNG carriers and Offshore Floating Production Units (FPUs).

Under the agreement, common guidelines for LNG carriers, based on GAP analyses as well as the BV and RS rules and the IMO IGC Code, are expected to be published in first-quarter 2012. These will include the requirement for operating in Arctic areas. In addition to the parameters used for the LNG guidelines, these will include feedback gained from the work on the Shtokman natural gas field.

Arctic exploration is expected to be a huge growth area as world energy demand makes it economically feasible to attempt to exploit resources in the frozen north. Russia has large reserves in these regions and will need carrier guidelines if it is to forge ahead with its growth plans involving FPUs and LNG carriers.

In a separate development the leading Russian design office Severnoje has selected BV as the class society for its new Medmax LNG carrier design.

BV joined forces with the State Maritime University of St Petersburg to develop IceSTAR, an industrial software tool for modelling ice loads and their effects on structures. The program dramatically improves the structural design of new generation of large LNG carriers and offshore floaters for use in heavy ice conditions.

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/lng-shipping/20092011/bureau_veritas_extends_russian_partnerships/