As offshore field developments in the North and Norwegian Seas face maturity, operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) are looking to the more remote areas of the Barents Sea for further development. Here harsher environmental conditions, prolonged periods of darkness and long distances to shore make evacuation and rescue of personnel on Arctic offshore installations more challenging. A new DNV GL report published today examines the feasibility of emergency preparedness solutions and calls for the industry to collaborate on new response concepts.

DNV GL’s report ‘Emergency response for offshore operations in the Barents Sea’, examines the affect of wind speed, wave height and the presence of sea ice on the availability of evacuation and rescue resources in the Barents Sea and analyses the long-range rescue capability provided by search and rescue helicopters. Key challenges for offshore installations in Arctic waters include: sea spray icing, darkness, lack of offshore infrastructure and long distances between installations and support sites, sea ice, low temperatures and wind chill.

Tags: DNV GL Oil & Gas