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MAROFF-2-Maritim virksomhet og offsh-2

Construction and intervention vessels for Arctic oil and gas operations

Awarded: NOK 6.9 mill.

Project Number:

188913

Project Period:

2008 - 2011

Partner countries:

The expected increased oil and gas activities in cold climate regions will require dedicated designs for future Arctic offshore vessels. Specification, design and development of dedicated vessels should be of major interest for oil and gas companies posit ioning themselves for safe and cost efficient exploitation of offshore petroleum resources in the High North. Norwegian ship yards have already designed multipurpose vessels with some ice capability. However, it is assumed that dedicated designs for Arcti c intervention and construction vessels could be another niche for Norwegian ship yards. The project will start with development of a road map. It will be developed based on StatoilHydro's present maintenance standards and will account for possible change s for subsea solutions in cold climate regions with seasonal ice. One work package is dedicated to establishing a design guideline for metocean data for selected Arctic areas where offshore oil and gas exploitation takes/will take place. Impact of climati c changes and quality of metocean forecasts will be discussed. The main part of the project is devoted to design and testing of construction and intervention vessels designed specifically for operations in Arctic waters. Systematic variation of hull para meters, propulsion and control systems will be studied using theoretical tools and different types of model tests. Performance criterias will be developed for different phases of the vessels mission taking into account calm water and seakeeping performanc e, ice performance and DP performance in open water and ice. As emission profile is especially important for vessels operating in Arctic waters the project includes a work package studying ways of defining an environmental footprint. The selected method will be used to compare footprints for a new design with existing designs for selected missions. External experts will be invited to take part in a reference group that will be invited to project workshops.

Funding scheme:

MAROFF-2-Maritim virksomhet og offsh-2