SAFETY ISSUES FOR FLOATING PRODUCTION, STORAGE AND OFFLOADING INSTALLATIONS

Production and storage tankers are being used to an increasing degree for the development of marginal fields in the North Sea as well as for the development of fields in extreme environments. The main safety aspects of production and storage tankers are discussed in this paper, based on a number of quantitative risk assessments for these vessel concepts. These studies have confirmed the importance of several key safety features, such as fire protected, enclosed escape way along one of the sides of the ship. Other important safety features include weather vaning capability as a function of the turret location, location of the temporary refuge, protection of cargo tanks, by inert blanketing, as well as procedures for strict control of tank intervention. The results show that the production and storage vessels have favourable safety characteristics, and that these concepts represent an acceptable and feasible solution for the marginal and extreme environment fields.