National Drilling Company & Det Norske Veritas Highlight Critical Safety Issues at Offshore Technical Meet
Det Norske Veritas (DNV) a leading international provider of services for managing risk and National Drilling Company (NDC) of Abu Dhabi, recently
co-hosted the second in a series of offshore technical seminars. Held at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, the conference was attended by over 80 regional and international industry professionals discussed solutions to the increasing problem of Jack System Failures on ageing self elevating jack-up rigs for offshore, throughout the region and worldwide.
Abdulrahman Ba Majboor Al Sayari, Assistant General manager of National Drilling Company, Abu Dhabi commented, "The three main objectives of the seminar were to reaffirm our commitment to provide a common platform for rig owners, to share knowledge and technical experience and to create awareness amongst classification societies, of the problems currently faced by rig owners."
Jacking systems are commonly used on offshore self elevating rigs for drilling, production etc. Many of these jacking systems were installed 20 to 30 years ago when much of the rigs were originally commissioned. The issue now, through ageing is that maintenance checks and repairs become more critical and surveys need to be made to ensure the operational safety of the rigs.
One issue hindering the sharing of the knowledge is the rig owners' reluctance to report failures, concerned about potential adverse publicity which could result in losing their charter. The seminar was convened to encourage rig owners to put safety at the top of the agenda.
"We received some excellent feedback from delegates, especially on the role of classification societies throughout the region. It was invaluable to clearly understand issues from the market's perspective," said Carl Arne Carlsen, Head of Offshore Class, for DNV.
DNV will now start developing a proposal on how to address the issues related to jacking system failures which will be forwarded to relevant rig owners for their comments and suggestions prior to implementation.
The seminar was followed by the third annual Middle East Rig Owners Committee meeting, held on-board the Dubai creek cruise ship "Bateaux Dubai". More than 40 owners' representatives and DNV personnel attended with presentations by guest speakers from DNV, Hovik and NDC focusing on operational issues in the Middle East and India. Once again the important issue of maintenance on ageing units was brought to the fore.
"We focused on our approach to the classification of Jack-Up units, which are the most common type of unit in this region. In particular we stressed the need for further support in the operation of these units, especially in benign environments," said Lazaros Sarris, Country Manager, DNV UAE-Maritime.
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About DNV
Established in 1864, and headquartered in Oslo, Norway, DNV is an independent foundation with a mission to safeguard life, property and the environment. With 300 office locations worldwide and over 7,000 employees, DNV competes in multiple industries. However the company focuses on four major industries where they have a strong market presence, maritime, oil & gas, process and transportation, which covers rail, automotive and aviation.
DNV offers a comprehensive range of risk management services including certification, consultation, maritime, technology services, research and software.
For more information about the full range of risk management services available from DNV, please visit, www.dnv.com
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© Press Release 2006
