The majority of floating offshore assets are required to undergo periodic surveys at two-and-a-half and five year intervals in order to comply with classification society specifications.
This can very disruptive to normal operations, as the tanks, valves and hull have to be made available for inspections at these times.
The concept of the ’20-year plan’ is a direct result of EM&I’s ODIN® diverless Under Water Inspection in Lieu of Drydocking (UWILD), not requiring divers to carry out underwater hull surveys at the prescribed periods, allowing the inspections to be scheduled over a 20-year period.
This approach benefits both the operators and class societies, as the operator does not suffer from disruptions to normal operations, and the class society get regular and high-quality information about the asset.
It’s a ‘win-win’ situation for both parties and keeps the asset fit for purpose throughout its operational life.
Every aspect of the normal periodic surveys is covered in the 20-year plan, including critical valve inspections using EM&I’s ODIN access ports, specialised cameras and manipulators, and tank inspections using EM&I’s ‘NoMan’ remote camera technology, which does not require man entry into the tanks and can be done in a fraction of the time required by rope access teams.
EM&I executive chairman Danny Constantinis commented: “Our new innovations ODIN and NoMan®, combined with the ’20-year plan’, have enabled us to cut costs by over 50% and people on-board (POB) by over 70%, so this is a major achievement in producing a more economic and safer solution to the periodic survey problem.
“All the work can be carried out while the asset is on hire, on station and in operation.
“We are also working closely with industry to introduce Structural RBI methods, digitisation, and robotic systems, which will further enhance the benefits of long term planning.”
Please contact EM&I using the enquiries form on this page for more information.