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ERRVA Shakes up BPs
JIGSAW
Jeremy Daniels of the Emergency Response and
Rescue Vessel Association can usually be seen at offshore operational and safety
conferences, presenting papers designed to combat the Operator's primary objective which
seems to be, to reduce the numbers of SBVs/ERRVs in the field. They would probably say
that they are only making the best use of the available resources.
Now BP's Jigsaw Project has really given the
ERRVA something to talk about and Jeremy Daniels fired the latest salvo in this spirited
sea battle at the famous Leith International Safety Conference, which for the first time
took place in Aberdeen. He had go at the performance standards used by BP and the survival
times for personnel in the sea, as determined by HSE research.
The trick here is to recover some-one from the
sea before they die, and the two hour standard which is set by BP may not achieve that.
There seems to be a call for some sort of voting process to determine whether the BP
proposal might be acceptable, as opposed to the proof to be provided by the duty-holder
that they can rescue personnel from the water in "all foreseeable events." On
balance it might be better to stick to proof rather than opinion, particularly if what
Jeremy Daniels says about recovery times into helicopters is true.
The subject is also discussed in this months
Offshore Support Journal.
Probably people in any part of the world other
than Northern Europe won't be the slightest bit interested in this saga, but there we are.
We have included one or two additional ERRVs in the ship particulars. Some of them would
have other uses if BP were successful!
TIDEWATER GOES ON BUYING SPREE
It was reported in the excellent Seabrokers
Market Report, and doubtless elsewhere in the maritime press that Tidewaters have had
their cheque book out again. The majority of the purchases have been from Sanko the
Japanese shipowners whose ships have been managed by Gulf Offshore.
They have already purchased the UT745 formerly
known as the Ace Navigator and now Russell Tide (See PSV details on this site) and the
UT755 Gargano.
The latest purchases include the Ace Nature -
sister ship of Ace Navigator and three UT755s, Mercury Bay, Monarch Bay and Torm Kestrel.
In addition they have added four KMAR404s to their fleet, the Leopard Bay the Torm Heron,
the Maersk Detector and Maersk Dispatcher. The President and Chief Executive of Tidewater
is quoted as saying "The acquisition of these eight high quality
vessels...........will propel Tidewater into the leading ranks of companies able to
service the deepwater market."
One assumes form this statement that somewhere
in their new building programme are some deep water anchor handlers, since despite their
burly design, the KMAR404s appear to have been developed as a middle of the road sort of
ship, with winches which make them most suitable for what are now seen as shallow water activities.
BP MOVES ON TO NEXT PHASE OF OPERATION JIGSAW
BP's proposals to replace ERRVs (Standby
vessels) with helicopters, has, they have announced, reached its next phase which is
further consultation with the workforce.
The helicopters are apparently to be distributed
one in the far North, one in the Shetland Basin, on in the central North Sea and one on
the southern North Sea with back-up helicopters at Aberdeen at Great Yarmouth. The
workforce have apparently proposed that enhanced ERRVs be provided at the same locations as the helicopters.
BP are going to source and equip an suitable
helicopter which is apparently going to take twelve to fifteen months and then carry out
trials for a further six to twelve months. The workforce are to be consulted about the trials and the enhanced ERRV.
It looks as if it is going to be quiet for a considerable time!
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